THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


OF   THE 


3S1T 


PUBLISHED  BT  GEO   E  FERINE 
.        i  8  0  0. 


HISTORY    OF    CONGRESS, 


THE 


FORTIETH  CONGRESS 


OF    THE 


UNITED    STATES. 


1867-1869. 

VOLUME  I. 


BY  WILLIAM  HOEATIO  BARNES,  A.M., 


WITH    PORTRAITS   ON    §TEEL. 


NEW  YORK: 
W.    H.    BARNES    &    CO.,    PUBLISHERS, 


3T    PAKK    BOW. 

1871. 


-o(lTO(,i 

WILUA.V  U.   BASSES. 


L    /  /  / 
i^    (0(0(0 


A.. 


PEEFAOE. 


volumes  delineate  the  men  composing  the  greatest 
legislative  body  in  the  world.  No  similar  assembly  is  con- 
vened from  such  extended  territory,  represents  so  great  a 
constituency,  or  possesses  powers  so  immense,  as  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States. 

<£       The  Fortieth  Congress  will  not  suffer  in  comparison  with  any  of 
'..   its  predecessors.     It  exhibited  more  practical  statesmanship,  sound 

I 

wisdom,  and  effective  eloquence  than  had  been  displayed  by  the 
t#  legislative  department  in  any  previous  period  of  American  history. 
i£  It  is  a  popular  error  to  assert  that  earlier  Congresses  were  composed 
>j  of  men  superior  to  those  whose  names  adorn  contemporary  annals. 
**  With  a  propensity  to  revere  antiquity,  we  look  backward  through  a 
-"*  golden  haze  which  magnifies  the  statesmen  of  remoter  times ;  but 

observed  carefully  with  critical  eyes,  and  accurately  measured  by  a 
^  modern  standard,  they  lose  their  gigantic  proportions.  Thirty  years 
c3  ago  but  few  statesmen  exhibited  such  abilities  as  many  living  legis- 
%  lators  are  now  devoting  to  the  public  service. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work  it  has  not  been  the  author's  task 

to  single  out  the  Eminent  Americans  and  Men  of  the  Times  whose 
o  portraits  and  biographies  should  adorn  these  pages.  The  people 
>  themselves  made  the  choice.  Out  of  thirty  millions  they  selected 
ca  those  whom  they  regarded  as  best  fitted  for  their  highest  Legislative 
2  labors,  and  thus  designated  the  men  of  all  others  most  worthy  of 
-4  biographical  and  artistical  illustration. 

In  presenting  this  portraiture  we  hold  the  mirror  up  to  the  people 

Jiat  they  may  see  themselves  reflected  in  their  Eepresentative  men. 

They  may  well  be  proud  to  belong  to  a  nation  which  produces  such 

3 


2  PREFACE. 

men,  and  feel  confident. of  the  high  destiny  of  a  country  whose  inter- 
ests are  confided  to  such  statesmen.  Youth  who  admire  the  por- 
traits will  be  spurred  to  emulative  activity  when  they  learn  from  the 
biographies  that  the  subjects  were  the  architects  of  their  own  for- 
tunes. Nearly  all  in  early  life  walked  the  stony  path  of  poverty, 
and  arose  to  eminence  by  their  unaided  energy  and  talent. 

The  biographies  are  plain,  unvarnished  narratives  of  facts,  unbiased 
by  political  attractions  or  repulsions.  They  will  be  found  to  embody 
much  of  national  as  well  as  personal  history.  Concise  war-histories 
of  New  York,  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Michigan  are  to  be  found  in  the 
sketches  of  the  late  Governors  of  those  States  who  were  members  of 
the  Fortieth  Congress.  A  history  of  the  war  itself  may  be  gleaned 
from  the  military  explSits  of  men  who  were  as  valiant  in  the  field 
as  they  have  since  shown  themselves  wise  in  council. 

The  material  for  the  biographical  portion  of  the  work  has  been  ob- 
tained from  sources  so  numerous  and  varied  that  they  cannot  be  par- 
ticularly designated.  Hundreds  of  letters  from  persons  in  public  and 
private  life  have  furnished  the  author  with  numerous  important  facts 
never  before  published.  Biographical  books  of  reference,  State  His- 
tories of  the  Kebellion,  numerous  pamphlets  and  newspapers,  have 
afforded  valuable  material.  The  sketches  generally  end  abruptly 
and  are  necessarily  incomplete,  from  the  fact  that  their  subjects,  with 
a  single  exception,  are  still  living  to  perform  other  distinguished  and 
useful  services. 

No  body  of  men  ever  before  received  so  full  and  elaborate  illus- 
tration by  means  of  engraving.  The  time  necessary  for  the  produc- 
tion of  finished  engravings,  as  well  as  the  necessary  limits  of  the 
work,  have  prevented  the  presentation  of  the  portraits  of  all.  No 
previously  published  book  has  contained  so  many  first-class  engrav- 
ings. The  portraits  are  as  accurate  as  could  be  secured  by  the  com- 
bined arts  of  photography  and  engraving.  The  work,  produced  at 
an  immense  expense,  is  submitted  with  the  confident  expectation 
that  it  will  be  duly  appreciated  by  an  intelligent  public. 

NEW  YOBK,  September  1, 18G9. 

4 


LIST  OF  POETBAITS. 

VOLUME    I. 


ANTHONY,  HENRY  B., 185 

ASHLEY,  JAMES  M.,                 255 

BARNES,  DEMAS,               239 

BINGHAM,  JOHN  A.,                 199 

BUCKALEW,  CHARLES  R., ...  47 

BUCKLAND,  RALPH  P 235 

CAMERON,  SIMON, 157 

CATTELL,  ALEXANDER  G., 43 

CHANDLER,  ZACHARIAH,              81 

CLARKE,  READER  W.,             ...  221 

CLARKE,  SIDNEY,              .' 205 

COLE,  CORNELIUS,                   ...            99 

COLFAX,  SCHUYLER,        ...            .'. 193 

CONNESS,  JOHN,        51 

CORBETT,  PENRY  W., 115 

COVODE,  JOHN,          215 

CRAGIN,  AARON  H •        -61 

CULLOM,  SHELBY  M.,              '    ...  235 

DIXON,  JAMES,                  181 

DOOLITTLE,  JAMES  R.,           55 

DRAKE,  CHARLES  D.,      109 

DRIGGS,  JOHN  F., 217 

FESSENDEN,  WILLIAM  P.,            75 

HARDING,  ABNER  C.,               223. 

HARLAN,  JAMES, 35 

HENDRICKS,  THOMAS  A., 95 

HOWARD,  JACOB  M 139 

HOWE,  TIMOTHY  O.,                147 

HUBBARD,  CHESTER  D.,                 275 

HULBURD,  CALVIN  T.,            231 

JOHNSON,  REVERDY,       119 

LYNCH,  JOHN,             243 


•J.J1 


LIST    OF    PORTRAITS. 

MALLORY,  RUFUS 

MORGAN,  EDWIN  D.,  

MOEKELL,  DANIEL  J., 

MORRILL,  LOTM 

MORTON,  OLIVER  P.,        16~ 

MYERS,  LEONARD,                   261 

N YE,  JAMES  W.,                163 

PATTERSON,  JAMES  W.,        127 

PILE,  WILLIAM  A.,           279 

POMEROY,  SAMUEL  C.,           69 

ROBERTSON,  WILLIAM  H.,           229 

SCOFIELD,  GLENNI  W.,          247 

SHERMAN,  JOHN,               153 

SPRAGUE,  WILLIAM,                ...          ' 161 

STEWART,  WILLIAM  M.,               159 

STOKES,  WILLIAM  B 209 

StfMNER,  CHARLES,          29 

THAYER,  JOHN  M.,    ...    ,        123 

TRTJMBULL,  LYMAN,        165 

VAN  AERNAM,  HENRY,           213 

WADE,  BENJAMIN.F 23 

WASHBURNE,  ELIHTJ  B.,        203 

WASHBURN,  HENRY  D.,                ' ...-  271 

WELKER,  MARTIN,                   267 

WILLEY,  WAITMAN  T.,                   63 

WILLIAMS,  GEORGE  H „           ...  189 

WILSON,  HENRY,              133 

WILSON,  JOHN  T.,   '. 359 

YATES,  RICHARD, ...  108 


THE    FOETIETH    CONGKESS. 


E  Fortieth  Congress  ranks  among  the  most  remarkable 
legislative  bodies  of  ancient  or  modern  times.  The' men 
who  composed  it,  the  emergencies  in  which  it  was  placed, 
and  the  measures  which  it  enacted,  all  contribute  to  its  distinction. 
It  must  ever  occupy  a  high  historical  position  by  reason  of  its  achieve- 
ments in  completing  the  work  of  Reconstruction  begun  by  its  prede- 
cessor, and  the  great  struggle  which  it  maintained  with  the  Execu- 
tive branch  of  the  Government. 

The  Thirty-ninth  Congress  closed  its  labors  and  its  existence  at 
noon,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1867.  At  the  same  hour,  in  accordance 
with  a  recently  enacted  law,  the  Fortieth  Congress  convened,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  organize  for  business.  So  large  a  proportion  of  the  members 
had  been  re-elected,  that  the  new  Congress  formed  essentially  the  same 
body  as  its  predecessor.  The  membership,  however,  was  not  com- 
plete, since  the  States  of  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  Con- 
necticut, Tennessee,  Kentucky,  California,  and  Nebraska,  had  not 
yet  held  their  elections,  and  were  not  represented  in  the  House. 
The  States  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  were 
unrepresented,  by  reason  of  their  failure  hitherto  to  comply  with  the 
terms  of  reconstruction. 

Before  the  House  entered  upon  the  regular  routine  of  business,  the 
Democratic  members  took  occasion  to  enter  their  "  most  solemn  pro- 
test against  the  organization  of  the  House,  until  the  absent  States 
should  be  more  fully  represented." 

The  Senate  was  called  to  order  by  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  "Wade,  who 
had  been  elected  its  President  pro  tempore  before  the  close  of  the 


9  THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS. 

previous  Congress.    The  House  of  Kepresentatives  was  organized  by  . 
the  election  to  the  speakership  of  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax,  now  for  t 
third  time  the  recipient  of  that  high  honor. 

Congress  at  once  addressed  itself  to  the  duty  of  perfecting  the 
work  of  Eeconstruction.  The  bill  which  had  been  passed  over  the 
President's  veto,  March  2d,  was  incomplete  in  not  having  all  the  pro- 
visions necessary  for  carrying  it  into  effect  in  accordance  with  the 
purposes  of  its  framers. 

Supplementary  Eeconstruction  bills  were  proposed  by  Mr.  Wilson 
in  the  House,  and  Mr.  Trumbull  in  the  Senate.  The  best  features  of 
both  having  been  combined  and  fully  discussed,  the  perfected  bill 
was  finally  passed  over  the  President's  veto  on  the  23d  of  March 
In  this  supplementary  bill,  directions  were  given  for  the  due  registra- 
tion of  voters,  the  method  of  conducting  elections,  and  the  mode  of 
calling  conventions. 

Before  the  close  of  the  preceding  Congress,  a  conviction  had  taken 
possession  of  many  minds  that  the  President,  in  his  career  of  opposi- 
tion to  the  legislative  branch  of  the  Government,  had  been  guilty  of 
crimes  and  misdemeanors  which  laid  him  liable  to  impeachment. 
On  the  7th  of  January,  1867,  Mr.  Ashley,  of  Ohio,  offered  a  resolu- 
tion, which  passed  by  a  vote  of  108  to  38,  instructing  the  Judiciary 
Committee  to  "  inquire  into  the  official  conduct  of  Andrew  John- 
son," and  report  whether  he  had  been  guilty  of  "high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors,  requiring  the  interposition  of  the  Constitutional 
power  of  the  House."  The  Committee  to  which  this  question  was 
referred,  was  unable  to  complete  its  investigations  before  the  close  of 
the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  and  the  undetermined  question  of  im- 
peachment was  handed  over  to  the  discussion  and  action  of  the 
Fortieth  Congress.  In  the  first  session  of  this  Congress  its  Judiciary 
Committee  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  continuing  the  investiga- 
tions, with  instructions  to  report  at  the  second  session.  Congress  ad- 
journed on  the  30th  of  March,  making  provision  for  re-assembling 
on  the  3d  of  July,  if  the  exigencies  of  Reconstruction  or  the  con- 
duct of  the  President  should  make  a  meeting  necessary. 


THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS.  3 

The  President  manifested  extreme  unwillingness  to  execute  the 
Eeconstruction  laws.  He  was  sustained  in  his  position  of  hostility 
to  Congress  by  the  opinion  of  his  Attorney-General,  which '  jus- 
tified him  in  disregarding  the  laws  recently  enacted  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Rebel  States,  Alarmed  by  this  attitude  of  the  Pres- 
ident and  his  subordinate,  Congress  re-assembled  in  full  force  on 
the  3d  of  July,  prepared  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  hour.  "  The 
peculiar  views,"  said  Mr.  Howard  in  the  Senate,  "  taken  by  the  At- 
torney-General of  the  United  States  of  the  reconstruction  acts  of 
Congress,  and  the  apprehension  of  the  members  of  this  body,  at  least 
the  majority,'  that  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  the  execu- 
tion of  those  acts,  may  or  will  be  governed  by  the  conclusions  to 
which  his  legal  advisers  have  arrived,  have  doubtless  been  the  great 
causes  for  the  re-assembling  of  Congress."  • 

An  additional  Reconstruction  act  was  passed  over  the  President's 
veto  on  tne  19th  of  July.  A  practical  feature  of  this  bill,  which 
distinguished  it  from  previous  acts,  was  a  provision  devolving 
many  of  the  details  of  the  execution  of  the  laws  upon  the  General 
of  the  Army,  in  whose  ^abilities  and  integrity  Congress  and  the 
country  placed  full  reliance.  That  nothing  might  be  left  undone  to 
aid  in  the  full  restoration  of  the  South,  Congress  appropriated  one 
million  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  to  defray  the 
necessary  expenses  of  Reconstruction. 

The  President,  in  a  communication  relating  to  the  cost  of  carrying 
out  the  provisions  of  the  Reconstruction  bills,  stated  that  if  the  Fed- 
eral Government  should  abolish  the  existing  State  governments  of  the 
ten  States,  the  United  States  would  be  justly  responsible  for  the 
debts  incurred  by  those  States  -for  other  purposes  than  in  aid  of  the 
rebellion;  those  debts  amounted  to  at  least  $100,000,000.  He 
thought  it  worthy  the  consideration  of  Congress  whether  the  as- 
sumption of  so  great  an  obligation  would  not  seriously  impair  the 
national  credit ;  whether,  on  the  other  hand,  "  the  refusal  of  Con- 
gress to  guarantee  the  payment  of  the  debts  of  those  States,  after 
having  displaced  or  abolished  their  State  governments,  would  not  be 


4  THE    FOKTIETH    CONGRESS. 

viewed  as  a  violation  of  good  faith,  and  a  repudiation  by  the  Na- 
tional legislature  of  liabilities  which  those  States  had  jointly  and  le- 
gally incurred.  The  House,  by  a  vote  of  100  to  18,  resolved  that  this 
intimation  of  the  liability  of  the  United  States  for  those  debts,  "  is 
at  war  with  the  principles  of  international  law,  a  deliberate  stab 
at  the  national  credit,  abhorrent  to  every  sentiment  of  loyalty, 
and  well-pleasing  only  to  the  traitors  by  whose  agency  alone  the 
Governments  of  said  States  were  overthrown." 

When  the  Fortieth  Congress  convened  for  its  second  session  on  the 
21st  of  November,  1867,  its  first  important  business  was  to  hear  a 
report  from  the  Committee  charged  with  the  work  of  'investigating 
the  conduct  of  the  President,  with  a  view  to  his  impeachment.  On 
the  25th  of  November,  Mr.  Boutwell  presented  to  the  House  the  re- 
port of  that  Committee,  -recommending  that  Andrew  Johnson  be 
impeached  for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors.  On  the  same  day,  a 
minority  of  the  Committee  presented  a  dissenting  report  recommend- 
ing that  the  whole  subject  be  laid  on  the  table,  and  that  the  Com- 
mittee be  discharged.  Both  reports  were  ordered  to  be  printed,  and 
the  subject  was  made  the  special  order  for  Wednesday,  the  4th  of 
December.  On  that  day  the  subject  was  resumed,  and  after  a  dis- 
cussion of  three  days,  was  determined  against  impeachment,  fifty- 
seven  voting  in  the  affirmative,  and  one  hundred  and  eight  in  the 
negative.  Of  those  voting  in  the  negative,  thirty-nine  were  Demo- 
crats, and  sixty-nine  were  Republicans.  The  "  overt  act "  was  yet 
to  be  committed  which  would  consolidate  the  Republicans  to  form  the 
Constitutional  two-thirds  required  for  the  impeachment  of  the  Presi- 
dent. 

The  character  of  Mr.  Johnson's  message,  delivered  to  Congress  on 
the  3d  of  December,  was  such  as  to  indicate  his  unmitigated  hostility 
to  Congress,  and  was  calculated  to  fan  the  unhappy  strife  between 
the  co-ordinate  branches  of  the  Government.  There  had  been  some 
hope  that  Mr.  Johnson,  taught  by  observation  and  experience  that 
the  Congressional  plan  of  reconstruction  was  that  upon  which  the 
country  had  determined,  would  relax  his  opposition,  and  apply  liim- 

10 


THE   FORTIETH    CONGRESS.  5 

self  to  the  duty  of  executing  the  laws.  His  December  message  dis- 
pelled this  hope.  From  the  moment  this  paper  was  made  public, 
it  was  evident  that  a  fiercer  conflict  was  impending  between  the  Leg- 
islative and  Executive  branches  of  the  Government. 

On  the  12th  of  December,  President  Johnson  transmitted  to  the 
Senate  a  communication  setting  forth  his  reasons  for  suspending  Mr. 
Stanton  from  the  exercise  of  the  functions  of  Secretary  of  War. 
The  genejal  ground  upon  which  Mr.  Johnson  justified  his  suspension 
of  Mr.  Stanton,  was,  that  upon  grave  and  important  questions  the 
views  of  the  Secretary  of  War  differed  from  those  of  the  President. 
Mr.  Johnson,  in  the  case  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  did  not  admit  that 
he  was  bound  by  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act,  since  before  he  had 
vetoed  it,  every  member  of  his  Cabinet,  including  Mr.  Stanton,  had 
agreed  that  it  was  unconstitutional.  So  soon  as  it  had  been  discov- 
ered that  the  differences  of  policy  could  not  be  reconciled,  those 
members  of  the  Cabinet  who  did  not  coincide  with  the  President, 
save  Mr,  Stanton,  had  resigned.  By  Mr.  Stanton's  continuance  in 
office,  "  that  unity  of  opinion  which,  upon  great  questions  of  public 
policy  or  administration,  is  so  essential  to  the  Executive,  was  gone." 
Since  Mr.  Stanton  would  not  resign  to  produce  this  desired  unity, 
Mr.  Johnson  had  been  induced  to  resort  to  his  suspension. 

This  message  was  referred  to  the  Military  Committee  of  the  Senate, 
a  majority  of  whom,  on  the  8th  of  January,  presented  an  elaborate  re- 
port controverting  the  statements  and  assumptions  of  the  President. 
The  design  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act  was  to  prevent  the  President 
from  making  any  removals  except  for  mental  or  moral  incapacity,  or 
for  some  legal  disqualification ;  and  then,  facts  must  be  proved  prior 
to  removals.  The  constitutionality  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Bill  was 
maintained.  The  President  had  himself  recognized  it  by  his  action 
in  every  case.  The  Keport  declared  that  if  the  purposes  of  Mr. 
Johnson,  for  which  he  required  the  unanimous  support  of  his  Cabinet,  • 
had  been  carried  out,  "  the  plain  intention  of  Congress  in  regard  to 
reconstruction  in  rebel  States  would  have  been  defeated."  The 
Military  Committee  said  of  Mr.  Johnson,  that  "  his  whole  course  of 

11 


£  THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS. 

conduct  was  notoriously  in  open  and  violent  antagonism  to  the  will 
of  the  nation  as  expressed  by  the  two  Houses  of  Congress.  .  Mr. 
Stanton,  on  the  other  hand,  had  favored  the  execution  of  these  laws. 
He  had  good  reason  to  believe,  and  did  believe,  that  if  he  resigned  his 
post,  Mr.  Johnson  would  fill  the  vacancy  by  the  appointment  of  some 
pereon  in  accord  with  himself  in  his  plans  of  obstruction  and  resist- 
ance to  the  will  of  Congress."  With  reference  to  the  statement  by 
the  President  that  Mr.  Stanton  had  considered  the  Tenure,  of  Office 
Bill  unconstitutional,  arid  was  opposed  to  its  becoming  a  law,  it  was 
said  in  the  report,  "  It  does  not  follow  because  a  public  officer  has 
entertained  such  an  opinion  of  a  proposed  measure,  he  is  to  carry  his 
notions  so  far  as  to  treat  it  as  void  when  formally  enacted  into  a  law 
by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  each  House  of  Congress."  The  Committee 
eulogized  Mr.  Stanton's  conduct  in  refusing  to  resign,  declaring 
that  "  in  so  doing  he  consulted  both  his  own  duty  and  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  country."  They  recommended  the  passage  of  a  Eesolu- 
tion  by  the  Senate  non-con curring  in  the  suspension  of  Mr.  Stanton. 
The  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  majority  of  thirty -five  to  six.  In 
Consequence  of  this  action  of  the  Senate,  General  Grant  ceased  to 
exercise  the  functions  of  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim,  and  Mr.  Stan- 
ton  resumed  the  duties  of  his  office. 

General  Grant  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  President  because  he 
did  not  resign  the  Secretaryship  into  his  hands,  that  he  might  ap- 
point another,  who  would  prevent  Mr.  Stanton  from  resuming  the 
office.  The  voluminous  correspondence  which  followed,  attracted 
much  attention,  and  revealed  in  a  clear  light  the  characters  of  the 
two  distinguished  disputants.  The  letters  of  the  President  showed 
that  it  was  his  determination  to  control  the  Department  of  War, 
despite  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act  and  the  will  of  the  Senate. 

In  view  of  the  state  of  things  brought  to  light  in  this  correspond- 
ence; Mr.  Stevens,  on  the  13th  of  February,  proposed  to  the  House 
Committee  on  Reconstruction,  a  resolution  to  impeach  the  President 
for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors.  The  resolution  was  laid  on  the 
table,  Messrs.  Bingham,  Paine,  Beaman,  Brooks,  and  Beck,  voting  in 

12 


THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS.  7 

the  affirmative,  and  Stevens,  Boutwell,  and  Farnsworth,  in  the  neg- 
ative. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  February,  the  President  issued  an  order  to 
Mr.  Stanton,  removing  him  from  the  office  of  Secretary  of  T^ar,  di- 
recting him  to  surrender  all  books,  papers,  and  public  property  of 
the  Department  to  General  Lorenzo  Thomas,  whom  he  had  appointed 
Secretary  of  War  ad  interim.  General  Thomas  immediately  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  War  Department  and  demanded  possession. 
Mr.  Stanton  refused  to  surrender  the  office,  and  ordered  General 
Thomas  to  proceed  to  the  apartment  which  belonged  to  him  as  Ad- 
jutant-General. This  order  was  not  obeyed.  Mr.  Stanton  re- 
mained in  possession  of  the  War  Department,  and  continued  to  dis- 
charge the  functions  of  the  office.  At  the  same  time  General 
Thomas  was  recognized  as  Secretary  by  the  President,  and  in  that 
capacity  attended  the  meetings  of  the  Cabinet. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  Mr.  Stevens,  as  Chairman  of  the  House 
Committee  on  Reconstruction,  presented  a  brief  report,  presenting 
the  fact  of  the  attempted  removal  of  Mr.  Stanton  by  the  President, 
and  recommending  the  passage  of  a  resolution  that  Andrew  Johnson 
be  impeached  for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors.  An  earnest  de- 
bate ensued,  which  was  closed  with  a  speech  written  by  Mr.  Stevens, 
but  read  by  the  Clerk  of  the  House.  The  veteran  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  and  former  leader  of  the  House,  with  a  mind  still  vigor- 
ous, found  his  physical  strength  insufficient  for  personal  participation 
jn  debate.  After  two  days'  discussion,  on  the  24th  of  February,  the 
Resolution  to  impeach  the  President  passed  the  House  by  a  vote  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-six  to  forty-seven.  '  , 

The  House  also  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  Articles  of  Im- 
peachment, consisting  of  seven  members :  Messrs.  Boutwell,  Stevens, 
Bingham,  Wilson,  Logan,  Julian,  and  Ward.  A  committee  of  two 
members,  Messrs.  Stevens  and  Boutwell,  was  appointed  to  notify  the 
Senate  of'  the  action  of  the  House — a  duty  which  was  performed  on 
the  following  day.  Thereupon  the  Senate,  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
resolved  that  the  message  from  the  House  should  be  referred  to  a  com- 

13 


g  THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS. 

mittee  of  seven,  to  be  appointed  by  the  chair.  This  committee  sub- 
sequently made  a  report,  laying  down  the  rules  of  procedure  to  be 
observed  in  the  trial. 

On  the  29th  of  February,  Articles  of  Impeachment  were  presented 
to  the  House  by  the  Committee  which  had  been  charged  with  that 
duty.  After  slight  modification,  these,  with  two  additional  articles, 
were  adopted,  on  the  4th  of  March.  The  votes  on  the  different 
articles  slightly  varied,  the  average  being  125  yeas  to  40  nays.  The 
House  then  elected  the  following  members  to  be  Managers  to  conduct 
the  Impeachment  before  the  Senate :  Messrs.  Bingham,  Boutwell, 
Wilson,  Butler,  Williams,  Logan,  and  Stevens. 

The  Democratic  members  abstained  from  voting  in  the  election  of 
Managers.  They  entered  a  formal  protest  against  the  whole  course 
of  proceedings  involved  in  the  impeachment  of  the  President. 
While  taking  this  step,  they  claimed  to  represent,  "  .directly  or  in  prin- 
ciples, more  than  one-half  of  the  people  of  the  United  States."  On 
the  fifth  of  March  the  Articles  of  Impeachment  were  presented  to  the 
Senate  by  the  Managers,  who  were  accompanied  by  the  House  oi 
Representatives,  the  grand  inquest  of  the  nation.  Mr.  Bingham,  the 
Chairman  of -the  Managers,  read  the  Articles  of  Impeachment. 

The  Court,  consisting  of  fifty-four  Senators,  presided  over  by  the 
Chief-Justice,  was  organized  on  Thursday,  the  5th  of  March.  The  oath 
was  administered  to  Chief-Justice  Chase  by  Associate-Justice  Nel- 
son. The  Chief-Justice  then  administered  the  oath  to  the  Senators 
present,  except  Mr.  Wade,  whose  eligibility  as  a  member  of  the  court 
was  challenged  on  the  ground  that  he  was  a  party  interested,  since 
in  the  event  of  the  impeachment  being  sustained,  he,  as  President 
of  the  Senate,  would  succeed  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 
After  a  discussion  of  several  hours,  the  objection  was  withdrawn,  and 
Mr.  Wade  was  sworn  as  a  member  of  the  Court.  On  the  7th,  Mr. 
Brown,  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  of  the  Senate,  served  upon  the 
President  the  summons  to  appear  before  the  bar  of  the  High  Court 
of  Impeachment,  and  answer  to  the  Articles  of  Impeachment. 

The  trial  commenced  on  Friday,  the  13th  of  March,  the  President 
14 


THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS.  0 

appearing  by  his  counsel,  Henry  Stanberry,  Benjamin  E.  .Curtis, 
William  M.  Evarts,  Thomas  A;  E.  Nelson,  and  William  S.  Groes- 
beck.  ,  Application  was  made  by  the  President,  through  his  counsel, 
for  forty  days  in  which  to  prepare  his  answer  to  the  indictment. 
The  Senate  refused  so  much  time,  and  granted  ten  days,  ordering  that 
the  trial  should  be  resumed  on  the  23d.  Upon  that  day  the  Presi- 
dent appeared  by  his  counsel,  and  presented  his  answer  to  the  Ar- 
ticles of  Impeachment.  His  answer  was  a  general  denial  of  each 
and  every  criminal  act  charged  in  the  Articles  of  Impeachment.  The 
counsel  for  the  President  then  asked  for  a  further  delay  of  the  trial 
for  thirty  days  after  the  replication  of  the  Managers  of  the  Impeaeh- 
m£nt  should  be  rendered.  This  was  refused,  and  the  Managers,  indi- 
cating their  purpose  to  present  their  replication  on  the  following  day, 
it  was  ordered  that  the  trial  should  be  suspended  only  until  Monday, 
the  30th  of  March,  and  then  proceed  "  with  all  dispatch."  The  re- 
plication presented  by  the  Managers  was  a  simple  denial  of  each  and 
every  averment  in  the  answer  of  the  President. 

On  the  30th  of  March,  the  opening  speech  on  the  part  of  the 
House  of  Eepresentatives  was  made  by  Mr.  Butler.  The  remainder 
of  the  week  was  occupied  by  the  presentation  of  documentary  and 
oral  testimony  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution.  On  Saturday, 
April  4th,  the  Managers  announced  that  the  case  on  their  part  was 
substantially  closed.  The  counsel  for  the  President  then  asked  for 
three  working  days  in  which  to  prepare  for  the  defense.  The  Senate 
granted  their  request,  and  adjourned  to  meet  as  a  Court  of  Impeach- 
ment on  Thursday,  April  9th.  The  trial  being  resumed  on  the  day 
appointed,  Mr.  Curtis  delivered  the  opening  speech  for  the  defense. 
At  the  conclusion  of  this  address,  the  testimony  for  the  President, 
both  oral  and  documentary,  was  presented. 

The  testimony  in  the  case  having  closed  on  Monday,  April  20,  the 
Court  adjourned  until  the  following  Wednesday,  when  the  final  ar- 
guments were  commenced.  Oral  arguments  were  presented  by  each 
of  the  President's  counsel,  and  all  of  the  Managers  for  the  prosecu- 
tion except  Mr.  Logan,  who  filed  his  in  writing.  The  argument  was 

15 


10  THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS. 

closed.for  the  defense  by  Mr.  Evarts,  and  for  the  prosecution  by  Mr. 
Bingham,  each  of  whom  occupied  three  days  in  his  address.  The 
delivery  of  the  arguments  occupied  a  fortnight,  ending  on  the  6th  of 
May.  On  the  following  day,  the  mode  of  procedure  having  been 
determined,  the  Court  adjourned  until  the  llth,  when  it  re-assem- 
bled with  closed  doors  for  deliberation.  Two  days  were  occupied 
with  these  deliberations,  during  the  course  of  which-several  Senators 
delivered  elaborate  opinions  upon  the  case. 

Saturday,  May  6th,  was  fixed  upon  as  the  day  when  the  vote 
should  be  taken.  It  was  ordered  by  the  Senate  that  the  vote  should 
be  taken  on  the  eleventh  article  first.  The  name  of  each  Senator 
being  called  in  alphabetical  order,  thirty-five  voted  "guilty,"  a*nd 
nineteen  "  not  guilty."  The  former  were  Messrs.  Anthony,  Cameron, 
Cattell,  Chandler,  Cole,  Conkling,  Conness,  Corbett,  Cragin,  Drake, 
Edmunds,  Ferry,  Frelinghuysen,  Harlan,  Howard,  Howe,  Morgan, 
Morrill  (of  Maine),  Merrill  (of  Vermont),  Norton,  Nye,  Patterson 
(of  New  Hampshire),  Pomeroy,  Kamsey,  Sherman,  Sprague,  Stewart, 
Sunnier,  Thayer,  Tipton,  Wade,  Willey,  Williams,  Wilson,  Yates. 

Those  voting  "  not  guilty"  were  Messrs.  Bayard,  Buckalew,  Davis, 
Dixon,  Doolittle,  Fessenden,  Fowler,  Grimes,  Henderson,  Hendricke, 
Johnson,  M'Creery,  Norton,  Patterson  (of  Tennessee),  Koss,  Sauls- 
bury,'  Trumbull,  Van  Winkle,  Vickers. 

Two-thirds  of  the  Senate  having  failed  to  vote  in  iavor  of  convic- 
tion, the  Chief-Justice  formally  announced  that  the  President  was 
acquitted  on  the  eleventh  article.  The  Court  was  then  adjourned 
until  Tuesday,  the  26th  of  May.  On  that  day  votes  were  taken  on 
the  second  and  third  articles,  on  which  the  President  was  acquitted 
by  the  same  vote  which  had  been  given  on  the  eleventh  article.  The 
Senate  sitting  as  a  High  Court  of  Impeachment  then  adjourned  sine  die. 

During  the  trial  of  the  Impeachment,  but  little  was  done  in 
the  way  of  general  legislation.  The  House  was  officially  present 
in  the  Chamber  of  the  Senate  while  that  body  was  sitting  as  a 
Court  of  Impeachment.  Although  it  usually  convened  after  the 
adjournment  of  the  Court,  it  was  understood  to  be  for  the  pur- 

16 


THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS.  11 

pose  of  debate  rather  than  of  action.  During  the  days  when 
the  court  was  adjourned  or  in  private  session,  some  important 
measures  were  acted  upon  in  the  House.  Among  them  were 
bills  relating  to  certain  of  the  late  rebel  States.  Alabama,  Ar- 
kansas, Georgia,  Louisiana,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Florida,  had  formed  Constitutions  in  accordance  with  the  Act  for 
the  more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States,  passed  March  2, 
1867.  Bills  passed  the  House  in  May,  and  the  Senate  in  June,  ad- 
mitting these  States  to  representation,  so  soon  as  they  should  respec- 
tively have  ratified  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  of  the  Constitu> 
tion,  upon  the  fundamental  condition  that  these  States  should  never 
discriminate  in  favor  of,  or  against,  any  class  of  citizens  now  entitled 
to  vote,  except  as  punishment  for  such  crimes  as  are  now  felonies  at 
common  law ;  and  no  person  shall  be  held  to  service  or  labor  as  punish- 
ment for  crime,  except  by  public  officers  charged  with  the  custody 
of  convicts.  The  bills  admitting  these  States  on  such  conditions  to 
representation  were  returned  by  the  President  without  his  signature, 
and  were  promptly  passed  over  the  veto  by  more  than  the  required 
two-thirds. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  Messrs.  McDonald  and  Kice,  Senators  elect 
from  Arkansas,  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  Senate  and  were  sworn  in. 
On  the  day  following,  Messrs.  Boles,  JJinds,  and  Root  were  admitted 
to  the  House  as  representatives  from  Arkansas.  Senators  and  Rep- 
resentatives from  the  other  reconstructed  States  were  sworn  in  at  later 
dates. 

All  the  Democratic  members  of  the  House,  forty-five  in  number, 
entered  a  solemn  protest  against  "  the  recognized  presence  of  these 
persons  on  the  floor  of  the  House  from  the  State  of  Arkansas,  sent 
here  by  military  force  acting  under  a  brigadier-general  of  the  army, 
but  nevertheless  claiming  to  be  members  of  this  Congress,  and  to 
share  with  us.  the  representatives  of  free  States,  in  the  imposition  of 
taxes,  and  customs,  and  other  laws  upon  our  people.  We  protest 
igainst  the  now  proposed  co-partnership  of  military  dictators  and 
negroes  in  the  administration  of  this  Government." 

A  concurrent  resolution  was  adopted  by  both  Houses  on  the  21st 

17 


12  THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS. 

of  July,  stating  that  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  of  the  Constitution, 
which  had  been  proposed  by  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  had  been 
adopted  by  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  States,  and  had  thus  be- 
come a  part  of  the  Constitution.  On  the  28th  of  July  the  Secretary 
of  State  issued  his  official  declaration  that  the  said  Amendment  had 
become  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  a  part  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

That  the  political  status  of  the  colored  man  might  be  for  ever 
settled,  another  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  was  proposed  by  the 
Fortieth  Congress  providing  that  "  The  right  of  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  to  vote,  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United 
States  or  any  State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude."  This  crowning  act  of  the  Fortieth  Congress  was  passed 
in  the  House,  February  25,  1869,  by  one  hundred  and  forty-three  to 
forty-three,  and  in  the  Senate  on  the  following  day  by  thirty -nine  to 
twelve. 

The  labors  of  the  Fortieth  Congress  were  not  only  devoted  to  the 
restoration  of  the  original  States,  but  to  extending  the  Government 
over  new  regions.  A  bill  was  passed  organizing  the  Territory  of 
Wyoming.  Another  act  appropriated  $7,200,000  to  pay  for  Alaska, 
and  extend  the  laws  of  the  United  States  all  over  that  country. 

Circumstances  seeming  to  demand  legislation  for  the  protection  of 
American  citizens  abroad,  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  instructed 
its  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  to  inquire  and  report  whether  any 
American  citizens  had  been  arrested,  tried,  and  convicted  in  Great 
Britain  or  Ireland,  for  words  spoken  or  acts  done  in  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Banks,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  presented 
a  report  upon  the  general  question  of  the  rights  of  naturalized  Ameri- 
can citizens,  and  proposed  a  bill,  which  after  amendment  by  the 
Senate  became  a  law.  It  provides  that  all  naturalized  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  while  in  foreign  states,  shall  be  entitled  to,  and  shall 
receive  from  this  Government,  the  same  protection  of  persons  and  jfrop- 
erty  that  is  accorded  to  native-born  citizens  in  like  fiituatio^and  cir- 
cumstances. That  whenever  it  shall  be  made  known  to  the  'President 
that  any  citizen  of 'the  United  States  has  been  unjustly  deprived  of 

18 


THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS.  13 

his  liberty  by  or  under  the  authority  of  any  foreign  Government,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  forthwith  to  demand  of  that  Gov- 
ernment the  reasons  for  such  imprisonment ;  and  if  it  appears  to  be 
wrongful  and  in  violation  of  the  rights  of  American  citizenship,  the 
President  shall  forthwith  demand  the  release  of  such  citizen.;  and 
if  the  release  so  demanded  is  unreasonably  delayed  or  refused,  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  use' such  means,  not  amounting  to  acts 
of  war,  as  he  may  think  necessary  and  proper  to  obtain  or  effectuate 
such  release,  and  all  the  facts  and  proceedings  relative  thereto  shall 
as  soon  as  practicable  be  communicated  by  the  President  to  Congress. 

In  the  attempt  to  better  the  condition  of  citizens  at  home,  Congress 
passed  a  bill  providing  that  "  Eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  day's 
work  for  all  laborers,  mechanics,  and  workmen  now  employed,  or  who 
may  hereafter  be  employed  by,  or  in  behalf  of  the  Government,  of  the 
United  States." 

The  Fortieth  Congress  was  not  deficient  in  the  performance  of  its 
duty  to  legislate  in  behalf  of  races  long  deprived  of  civil  and  politi- 
cal rights.  Early  in  the  existence  of  the  Fortieth  Congress,  a  law 
was  enacted  providing  that  in  the  District  of  Columbia  no  person 
should  be  disqualified  from  holding  office  on  account  of  race  or 
color. 

Congress  ordered  that  the  Freedman's  Bureau  be  continued  until  July 
16, 1869,  and  ordered  the  Secretary  of  War  to  re-establish  the  Bureau 
where  it  had  been  discontinued,  if  the  personal  safety  of  the  freedmen 
required  it,  and  to  discontinue  it  where  its  necessity  no  longer  existed, 
and  providing  that  the  educational  division  should  not  be  interfered 
with  until  a  State  made  suitable  provision  for  the  education  of  the 
children  of  the  freedmen  within  the  State. 

A  bill  was  passed  to  establish  peace  with  Indian  tribes,  providing 
that  commissioners  should  be  appointed  to  select  a  district  sufficient 
to  receive  all  the  tribes  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  not  living 
peacefully  on  reservations ;  that  the  district  should  contain  sufficien^ 
arable  and  grazing  land  to  enable  them  to  support  themselves  by  ag- 
ricultural and  pastoral  pursuits ;  the  district  to  remain  a  permanent 
home  for  the  tribes  exclusively,  and  to  be  so  located  as  not  to  inter-' 

19 


u  THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS. 

fere  with  the  travel  on  highways  located  by  authority  of  the  United 
States,  nor  with  the  routes  of  the  Pacific  Kailroads. 

The  Fortieth  Congress  exempted  all  cotton  grown  in  the  United 
States  after  1867  from  Internal  Revenue  tax,  and  reduced  the  tax  on 
manufactures  to  such  an  extent  as  to  diminish  the  Revenue  $60,00< 
000.    The  tax  on  whiskey  was  reduced  to  fifty  cents  per  gallon, 
licit  distilleries  were  made  liable  to  forfeit,  their  owners  being  sub- 
ject to  fine  and  imprisonment. 

Inharmonious  relations  continued  to  exist  between  President  John- 
son and  Congress  to  the  last.     The  President  sent  in  numerous  nom- 
inations to  the  Senate  that  were  immediately  rejected.     The  most 
remarkable  instance  was  that  of  the  mission  to  Austria,  which  had 
been  resigned  by  Mr.  Motley.    The  President  successively  nomin- 
ated ex-Senator  Cowan  of  Pennsylvania,  General  Frank  P.  Blair, 
ex-Senator  Nesmith  of  Oregon,  and  Henry  J.  Raymond,  who  were 
all  rejected  by  the  Senate.    Reverdy  Johnson,  Senator  from  Mary- 
Sand,  was  confirmed  by  a  unanimous  vote   as  Minister  to  Eng- 
land.   Mr.  Stanberry,  who  had  resigned  the  position  of  Attorney- 
General  for  the  purpose  of  defending  the  President  in  the  Impeach- 
ment Trial,  was  renominated  and  was  rejected.     Mr.  Evarts  of  the* 
President's  counsel  was  subsequently  nominated  for  the  same  office, 
and  was  confirmed.    Near  the  close  of  the  Fortieth  Congress  the 
Senate  informally  resolved  that,  except  in  cases  of  urgent  necessity,  no 
nomination  to  office  made  by  President  Johnson  would  be  acted  upon. 
The  President's  message,  transmitted  at  the  beginning  of  the  last 
session  of  the  Fortieth  Congress,  was  more  hostile  in  its  tone  than 
any  that  had  preceded  it.     He  made  severe  charges  against  Congress 
and  its  legislation.     "  The  various  laws,"  said  he,  "  which  have  been 
passed  upon  the  subject  of  reconstruction,  after  a  fair  trial,  have  sub- 
stantially failed,  and  proved  pernicious  in  their  results."     He  charg- 
ed that,  "one  hundred  million  dollars  were  annually  expended  for 
the  military  force,  a  large  portion  of  which  is  employed  in  the  exe- 
cution of  laws  both  unnecessary  and  unconstitutional."    He  proposed 
a  plan  for  paying  the  public  debt  by  repudiating  the  principal.     His 
message  was  denounced  in  both  Houses  as  a  disrespectful  and  offen- 

20 


THE    FORTIETH    CONGRESS.  15 

sive  document.  In  the  Senate  its  reading  was  interrupted  by  ad- 
journment, but  was  resumed  the  following  day.  That  portion  relat- 
ing to  the  National  Debt  was  made  the  subject  of  special  animadver- 
sion, and  resolutions  disapproving  and  condemning  it  were  passed  in 
both  branches. 

Many  propositions  were  brought  before  the  Fortieth  Congress, 
from  first  to  last,  relating  to  the  National  Finances.  At  the  very 
outset  Mr.  Edmunds  proposed  in  the  Senate  a  joint  resolution,  to  the 
effect  that,  except  in  the  cases  when  other  provision  was  expressly 
made,  the  public  debt  is  owing  in  coin  or  its  equivalent. 

Another  prominent  financial  scheme  was  presented  by  Senator 
Morrill,  providing  that,  after  the  4th  of  July,  1869,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  should  pay  in  coin  all  United  States  legal  tender  notes  not 
bearing  interest,  and  that  after  the  same  date  all  National  Banks 
should  be  required  to  pay  in  coin  all  their  circulating  notes  of  $5, 
and  under,  and  all  of  a  higher  denomination  in  coin  or  legal  tender 
notes.  In  July,  1868,  a  bill  was  proposed  for  funding  the  National 
Securities,  providing  that  the  holders  of  bonds  paying  7.30  may  ex- 
change them  for  new  bonds  at  3.65  running  forty  years,  principal 
jand  interest  payable  in  gold,  the  bonds  and  interest  to  be  free  from 
all  taxation.  This  bill  passed  both  Houses,  but  at  so  late  a  day 
that  it  was  held  by  the  President  until  after  the  adjournment, 
and  thus  failed  to  become  a  law.  A  bill  was  proposed  by  Mr. 
Sumner,  providing  for  a  return  to  specie  payments  July  4,  1869, 
and  for  funding  the  National  Debt  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest. 
A  bill  was  proposed  by  Mr.  Morton,  designed  to  render  at  as  early 
a  date  as  possible  the  currency  convertible  into,  and  therefore  of 
equal  value  with,  gold.  A  directly  opposite  plan  was  proposed  by 
General  Butler  in  the  House,  looking  to  the  indefinite  prolongation 
of  paper  currency.  No  definite  and  final  action  was  reached  upon 
any  of  the  financial  plans  proposed.  It  was  thought  proper  to  defer 
action  upon  these  important  questions  until  such  time  as  the  Legislative 
and  Executive  Departments  of  the  Government  should  be  in  har- 
mony. 

21 


BENJAMIN    F.    WADE. 

PRESIDENT   OF   THE   SENATE. 


Feeding  Hills  Parish,  Massachusetts,  on  the  27th  of 
October,  1800,  was  born  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  the  youngest 
of  ten  children.  His  father  was  a  soldier  of  the  Kevolution, 
and  fought  in  every  battle  from  Bunker  Hill  to  Yorktown.  His 
mother  was  the  daughter  of  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  and  was  a 
woman  of  vigorous  intellect  and  great  force  of  character. 

The  family  was  one  of  the  poorest  in  New  England.  They  had, 
however,  among  their  scanty  property  a  few  books,  which  eventually 
came  into  Benjamin's  possession.  He  never  enjoyed  more  than  seven 
(lays'  schooling,  yet  under  the  tuition  of  his  mother  he  soon  learned 
to  read  and  write.  He  read  and  re-read  the  few  books  of  the  family 
library,  and  as  a  boy  became  better  informed  than  most  of  his  age. 

He  was  for  a  time  employed  as  a  farm  hand  on  very  meagre  wages. 
When  eighteen  years  old,  thinking  he  might  find  something  better 
in  the  West,  with  a  bundle  of  clothing  on  his  back,  and  seven  dollars 
in  his  pocket,  he  started  on  foot  for  Illinois.  He  walked  as  far  as 
Ashtabula  County,  Ohio,  when  a  fall  of  snow  having  impeded  his 
progress,  he  determined  to  wait  for  spring  to  finish  his  journey.  He 
hired  out  to  cut  wood  in  the  forest  at  fifty  cents  per  cord.  He  spent 
his  evenings  reading  the  Bible  by  the  light  of  the  fire  on  the  hearth 
of  the  log  cabin,  and  in  a  single  winter  read  through  both  Old  and 
New  Testaments. 

When  spring  came,  he  was  persuaded  to  further  suspend  his  jour- 
ney to  Illinois,  by  engaging  in  a  summer's  work  at  chopping,  logging, 
and  grubbing.  This  was  followed  by  a  winter  at  school-teaching. 
After  two  years  of  such  employment,  he  engaged  in  driving  herds  of 


2  BENJAMIN    F.    WADE. 

cattle  from  Ohio  to  New  York.  He  thus  made  six  trips,  the  last  one 
leaving  him  in  Albany,  New  York.  Here  he  taught  a  winter  school, 
and  in  the  spring  hired  himself  to  shovel  on  the  Erie  Canal,  in  which 
employment  he  spent  the  summer — "  The  only  American  I  know," 
said  Governor  Seward,  in  a  speech  in  the  Senate,  "  who  worked  with 
a  spade  and  wheel-barrow  on  that  great  improvement." 

Having  occupied  the  summer  in  work  on  the  canal,  he  taught 
school  another  winter  in  Ohio.  In  the  following  spring  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  law  with  Hon.  Elisha  Whittlesey.  He  was  soon 
after  elected  a  justice  of  the  peace.  After  two  years  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  He  waited  another  year  for  his  first  suit,  and  from  that 
time  his  success  was  steady.  He  was  elected  Prosecuting  Attorney 
for  Ashtabula  County,  a  position  of  great  advantage  to  a  young  man 
just  rising  in  his  profession. 

But  Mr.  Wade's  destined  field  was  politics.  He  was  elected  to 
the  State  Senate,  where  he  took  the  lead  of  the  Whig  minority.  He 
aided  in  abolishing  the  law  for  imprisonment  for  debt.  He  inaugur- 
ated a  war  against  the  "Black  Laws"  of  Ohio.  He  took  a  bold 
stand  against  the  admission  of  Texas  into  the  Union.  "  So  help  me, 
God !"  he  declared,  "  I  will  never  assist  in  adding  another  rod  of 
slave  territory  to  this  country." 

Mr.  Wade  having  attempted  to  bring  about  a  repeal  of  the  State 
laws  that  oppressed  the  negroes  and  gave  security  to  slavery  in  the 
neighboring  States,  incurred  the  displeasure  of  his  party  friends,  who 
left  him  at  home  at  the  next  election. 

Time  and  events  having  at  length  brought  the  people  up  to  Wade's 
position,  they  again  sent  him  to  the  Senate  against  his  will.  There 
he  procured  the  passage  of  a  bill  which  founded  the  Oberlin  College, 
"  for  the  education  of  persons  without  regard  to  race  or  color."  He 
led  the  resistance  of  Ohio  to  the  resolution  adopted  by  Congress, 
denying  the  people  the  right  to  petition  concerning  the  abolition  of 
slavery.  He  labored  to  bring  the  Legislature  and  the  State  up  to 
the  support  of  John  Quincy  Adams  in  his  fight  for  the  sacred  right 
of  petition. 

24 


BENJAMIN    F.    WADE.  3 

In  1847,  Mr.  Wade  was  elected  President  Judge  of  the  Third 
Judicial  District.  After  the  session  of  his  court  was  over  for  the  day, 
Judge  "Wade  sometimes  went  to  the  neighboring  school-houses  and 
made  speeches  in  favor  of  General  Taylor,  then  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  Since  Wade  was  known  far  and  near  as  a  strong  anti- 
elavery  man,  it  was  thought  strange  that  he  did  not  support  Mr.  Yan 
Buren,  the  candidate  of  the  Liberty  party.  Some  of  his  friends  re- 
monstrated with  him  for  supporting  Taylor,  a  slaveholder.  "  Taylor 
is  a  good  old  Whig,"  he  replied,  "  and  I  am  not  going  to  stand  by 
and  see  him  crucified  between  two  such  thieves  as  Cass  and  Yan 
Buren."  For  four  years  he  occupied  the  bench,  and  obtained  with 
the  bar  and  the  people  the  reputation  of  a  wise 'and  just  judge. 

In  March,  1851,  as  he  was  hearing  a  cause  in  court,  the  firing  of  a 
cannon  in  the  streets  of  Akron  announced  to  the  public  that  Mr. 
Wade  had  been  elected  United  States  Senator  by  the  Legislature  of 
Ohio.  The  office  had  not  been  sought  for  by  him,  nor  canvassed  for 
by  his  friends.  The  arrangements  of  politicians  and  the  selfishness 
of  aspirants  were  over-ruled  by  the  people  in  their  desire  to  have 
one  who  would  represent  the  manhood,  the  conscience,  the  progress 
of  the  State. 

When  Mr.  Wade  entered  the  Senate,  he  found  but  few  opposed  to 
the  aggressions  of  slavery.  In  1856,  when  the  great  Kansas  contro- 
versy came  up,  the  advocates  of  slavery  were  thirty-two  against 
thirteen  in  favor  of  freedom.  Wade  showed  himself  brave  against 
all  odds  and  every  influence.  "  I  come  before  the  Senate  to-day," 
said  he,  "  as  a  Republican,  or,  as  some  prefer  to  call  me,  a  Black  Re- 
publican, for  I  do  not  object  to  the  term.  I  care  nothing  about  the 
name  ;  I  come  here  especially  as  the  advocate  of  liberty,  instead  of 
slavery." 

Mr.  Wade  has  continued  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate, 
by  successive  re-election,  for  eighteen  years.  His  Senatorial  career 
lias  been  marked  by  indomitable  energy,  unfailing  courage,  and  in- 
variable consistency.  It  has  been  marked  by  some  acts  which 
cannot  fail  to  cause  his  name  to  be  remembered.  He  reported  from 

25 


4  BENJAMIN    F.    WADE. 

the  Committee  on  Territories  the  first  provision  prohibiting  slavery 
in  all  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  to  be  henceforth  acquired. 
He  proposed  in  the  Senate  the  bill  for  Negro  Suffrage  in  the  District 
of  Columbia. 

It  was  in  the  days  when  Republicans  in  Congress  were  few,  and 
the  champions  of  Slavery  were  dominant  in  the  councils  of  the  Re- 
public, that  Mr.  Wade  rendered  services  for  the  struggling  cause  of 
liberty  that  are  never  to  be  forgotten.  He  met  the  arrogant  leaders 
of  the  South  with  a  bravery  that  secured  their  respect,  and  gained 
friends  for  his  cause.  Toombs,  the  fierce  fire-eater  of  Georgia,  once 
said  in  the  Senate,  "  My  friend  from  Ohio  puts  the  matter  squarely. 
He  is  always  honest,  outspoken,  and  straightforward  ;  and  I  wish  to 
God  the  rest  of  you  would  imitate  him.  He  speaks  out  like  a  man. 
He  says  what  is  the  difference,  and  it  is.  He  means  what  he  says ; 
you  don't.  He  and  I  can  agree  about  everything  on  earth  except  our 
sable  population." 

It  was  the  custom  in  those  days  for  Northern  Senators  to  yield 
submissively  to  the  insolence  of  the  slaveholders.  Mr.  Wade  had 
too  much  nerve  and  independence  meekly  to  accept  the  situation. 
Soon  after  he  took  his  seat,  a  Southerner  in  debate  grossly  insulted  a 
Free  State  Senator.  As  no  allusion  was  made  to  himself  or  his  State, 
Wade  sat  still ;  but  when  the  Senate  adjourned,  he  said  openly,  if 
ever  a  Southern  Senator  made  such  an  attack  on  him  or  Ohio  while 
he  sat  on  that  floor,  he  would  brand  him  as  a  liar.  This  coming  to 
the  ears  of  the  Southern  men,  a  Senator  took  occasion  to  pointedly 
speak,  a  few  days  afterward,  of  Ohio  and  her  people  as  negro  thieves. 
Instantly  Mr.  Wade  sprang  to  his  feet  and  pronounced  the  Senator  a 
liar.  The  Southern  Senators  were  astounded,  and  gathered  round 
their  champion;  while  the  Northern  men  grouped  about  Wade. 
A  feeler  was  put  out  from  the  Southern  side,  looking  to  retrac- 
tion ;  but  Mr.  Wade  retorted  in  his  peculiar  style,  and  demanded 
an  apology  for  the  insult  offered  himself  and  the  people  he  rep- 
resented. The  matter  thus  closed,  and  a  fight  was  looked  upon  as 
certain.  The  next  day  a  gentleman  called  on  the  Senator  from  Ohio, 


BENJAMIN    F.    WADE.  5 

and  asked  the  usual  question  touching  his  acknowledgment  of  the 
code. 

"  I  am  here,"  he  responded,  "  in  a  double  capacity.  I  represent 
the  State  of  Ohio,  and  I  represent  Ben.  Wade.  As  a  Senator,  I  am 
opposed  to  dueling.  As  Ben.  Wade,  I  recognize  the  code." 

"My  friend  feels  aggrieved,"  said  the  gentleman,  "at  what  you 
said  in  the  Senate  yesterday,  and  will  ask  for  an  apology  or  satis- 
faction." 

"  I  was  somewhat  embarrassed,"  continued  Senator  Wade,  "  by  my 
position  yesterday,  as  I  have  some  respect  for  the  Chamber.  I  now 
take  this  opportunity  to  say  what  I  then  thought ;  and  you  will,  if  you 
please,  repeat  it.  Your  friend  is  a  foul-mouthed  old  blackguard." 

"  Certainly,  Senator  Wade,  you  do  not  wish  me  to  convey  such  a 
message  as  that  ?  " 

"  Most  undoubtedly  I  do ;  and  will  tell  you,  for  your  own  benefit, 
this  friend  of  yours  will  never  notice  it.  I  will  not  be  asked  for 
either  retraction,  explanation,  or  a  fight." 

Next  morning  Mr.  Wade  came  into  the  Senate,  and  proceeding  to 
his  seat,  deliberately  drew  from  under  his  coat  two  large  pistols,  and, 
unlocking  his  desk,  laid  them  inside.  The  Southern  men  looked  on 
in  silence,  while  the  Northern  members  enjoyed  the  fire-eaters'  sur- 
prise at  the  proceeding  of  the  plucky  Ohio  Senator.  No  further  no- 
tice was  taken  of  the  affair  of  the  day  before.  Wade  was  not  chal- 
lenged, but  ever  afterward  was  treated  with  politeness  and  consider- 
ation by  the  Senator  who  had  so  insultingly  attacked  him. 

Mr.  Wade's  fierce  retorts  sometimes  fell  with  terrible  effect  upon 
his  adversaries.  When  he  was  speaking  against  the  Kansas-Ne- 
braska bill,  Mr.  Douglas  interrupted  him  with  an  inquiry  designed  at 
once  to  rebuke  and  embarrass  him :  "  You,  Sir,  continually  compli- 
ment Southern  men  who  support  this  bill,  but  bitterly  denounce 
Northern  men  who  support  it.  Why  is  this  ?  You  say  it  is  a  moral 
wrong ;  you  say  it  is  a  crime.  If  that  be  so,  is  it.  not  as  much  a 
crime  for  a  Southern  man  to  support  it,  as  for  a  Northern  man  to 

do  so?" 

27 


Q  BENJAMIN    F.    WADE. 

Mr.  WADE.—"  No,  sir,  I  say  not !  " 

Mr.  DOUGLAS.—"  The  Senator  says  not.  Then  he  entertains  a 
different  code  of  morals  from  myself  and— 

Mr.  WADE  (breaking  in,  and  pointing  at  Douglas  with  extended 
arm  and  forefinger,  his  face  wrinkling  with  scorn,  and  contempt  and 
rage  flashing  out  of  his  eyes)—"  Your  code  of  morals !  YOUR  mor- 
als !  My  God,  I  hope  so,  sir !  " 

A  witness  of  the  scene  says  that  the  "  Giant "  was  hit  in  the  fore- 
head, and,  after  standing  for  a  moment,  his  cheeks  as  red  as  scarlet, 
he  sank  silent  into  his  chair. 

Mr.  Wade  gained  enduring  fame  by  the  unanswerable  reasoning, 
the  powerful  oratory,  and  the  undaunted  courage  with  which  he 
resisted  the  extension  of  slavery  against  the  united  might  of  the 
propogandists  of  the  South  and  North*. 

Near  the  close  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  Mr.  Wade  was  elected 
President  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate.  He  was  chosen  to  that  office 
at  a  time  when  it  seemed  probable  that  his  election  would  soon  be- 
come an  elevation  to  the  Presidential  Chair  by  virtue  of  the  impeach- 
ment and  removal  of  Mr.  Johnson.  The  narrowness  of  Mr.  John- 
son's escape,  and  the  nearness  of  Mr.  Wade's  approach  to  the  Presi- 
dency, are  among  the  most  curious  scenes  in  recent  history. 

As  an  orator,  Senator  Wade  has  little  polish,  but  great  force,  di- 
rectness, and  effect.  He  is  an  original  thinker,  and  has  much  learn- 
ing for  one  whose  advantages  were  so  few.  His  manners  are  plain 
and  unaffected,  his  tastes  are  simple  as  in  his  humbler  years.  At 
home,  in  Ohio,  he  lives  in  a  style  undistinguished  from  the  substan- 
tial citizens  about  him.  His  residence  is  a  plain  white  frame  house, 
hid  among  the  trees  and  surrounded  by  ample  grounds. 

"  There  is,"  says  one,  "  a  Puritan  griraness  in  his  face,  which  melta 
into  sweetness  and  tenderness  when  his  sympathies  are  touched,  and 
which  is  softened  away  by  the  humor  which  wells  from  his  mirthful- 
ness  in  broad,  rich,  and  original  streams." 


ST1MNF.R. 


OHAELES    SUMMER 


HE  ancestors  of  Charles  Stunner  were  among  the  early 
emigrants  to  New  England.  His  father's  cousin,  Increase 
Simmer,  was  one  of  the  early  governors  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  and  was  regarded  as  a  worthy  successor  of  Hancock 
and  Adams.  The  father  of  Charles  Sumner  was  a  successful  law- 
yer, and  for  many  years  held  the  office  of  High  Sheriff  of  the  County 
of  Suffolk. 

Charles  Sumner  was  born  in  Boston,  January  6th,  1811.  Having 
received  a  preparatory  training  in  the  Boston  Latin  School,  and  the 
Phillips  Academy,  he  became  a  student  in  Harvard  College,  where 
he  graduated  in  1830.  He  subsequently  entered  the  Cambridge  Law 
School,  where  he  pursued  his  studies  three  years  under  the  direction 
of  Judge  Story,  with  whom  he  formed  an  intimate  and  lasting  friend- 
ship. 

In  1836  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  rose  rapidly  in  his  pro- 
fession. He  was  appointed  Reporter  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States ;  and,  while  holding  this  office,  published  three  vol- 
umes of  decisions,  known  as  "  Sumner's  Reports."  At  the  same 
time  he  edited  the  "  American  Jurist,"  a  law  paper  of  high  reputation. 

During  three  winters  following  his  admission  to  the  bar,  Mr.  Sum- 
ner lectured  to  the  students  of  the  Cambridge  Law  School.  Then, 
as  in  after  life,  his  favorite  subjects  were  those  relating  to  constitu- 
tional law  and  the  law  of  nations.  In  1836  he  was  offered  a  profess- 
orship in  the  Law  School,  and  in  Harvard  College,  both  of  which  he 
declined. 

In  1837  he  visited  Europe,  where  he  remained  till  1840,  traveling 


2  CHARLES    SUMNER. 

in  Italy,  Germany,  and  France,  and  residing  a  year  in  England. 
His  time  was  improved  in  adding  to  his  previous  literary  and  legal 
attainments  an  extensive  knowledge  of  the  languages  and  literature 
of  modem  Europe. 

After  three  years  spent  abroad,  Mr.  Sumner  returned  to  his  native 
city,  and  resumed  the  practice  of  law.  In  addition  to  his  professional 
duties,  he  was  occupied  from  1844  to  1846  in  editing  and  publishing 
an  elaborately  annotated  edition  of  "Yesey's  Keports,"  in  twenty 
volumes. 

Mr.  Sumner  was  recognized  as  belonging  to  the  Whig  party,  yet 
for  several  years  after  his  return  from  Europe  he  took  but  little  part 
in  politics.  He  made  his  first  appearance  on  the  political  stage  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1845,  when  he  pronounced  an  oration  before  the 
municipal  authorities  of  Boston  on  "  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations." 
This  utterance  was  made  in  view  of  the  aspect  of  affairs  which 
portended  war  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico.  This  oration 
attracted  great  attention,  and  was  widely  circulated  both  in  Europe 
and  America.  Cobden  pronounced  it  "  the  most  noble  contribution 
made  by  any  modern  writer  to  the  cause  of  peace." 

At  a  popular  meeting  in  Fanueil  Hail,  November  4,  1845,  Mr. 
Sumner  made  an  eloquent  and  able  argument  in  opposition  to  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  on  the  ground  of  slavery.  In  the  following 
year  he  delivered  an  address  before  the  Whig  State  Convention  of 
Massachusetts  on  "  The  Anti-Slavery  Duties  of  the  Whig  Party." 
In  this  address,  Mr.  Sumner  avowed  himself  the  uncompromising 
enemy  of  slavery.  He  announced  his  purpose  to  pursue  his  opposi- 
tion to  that  great  evil,  under  the  Constitution,  which  he  maintained 
was  an  instrument  designed  to  secure  liberty  and  equal  rights.  Pro- 
visions in  the  Constitution  conferring  privileges  on  slaveholders  were 
compromises  with  what  the  framers  of  that  instrument  expected 
would  prove  but  a  temporary  thing. 

In  1846  Mr.  'Sumner  addressed  a  public  letter  to  Hon.  Eobert  C. 
Winthrop,  who  then  represented  Boston  in  Congress,  rebuking  him 
for  his  vote  in  favor  of  war  with  Mexico. .  In  this  letter  the  Mexican 

30 


CHARLES    SUMNER.  3 

war  was  characterized  as  an  unjust,  dishonorable,  and  cowardly  attack 
on  a  sister .  republic,  having  its  origin  in  a  purpose  to  promote  the 
.  extension  of  slavery. 

The  position  of  Mr.  Sumner  was  too  far  in  advance  of  the  Whig 
party  to  admit  of  his  remaining  in  full  fellowship.  In  1848  he  sun- 
dered his  old  political  ties,  and  aided  in  the  organization  of  the  Free 
Soil  party,  whose  platform  was  composed  of  principles  which  he  had 
distinctively  announced  in  his  public  addresses.  Yan  Buren  and 
Adams,  candidates  of  the  new  party,  were  earnestly  supported  by 
Mr.  Sumner  in  the  Presidential  contest  of  1848. 

The  passage  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  tended  to  obliterate  old 
party  lines  •  and  overshadow  former  political  issues.  A  vacancy  in 
the  United  States  Senate  occurring  by  the  accession  of  Daniel 
Webster  to  the  cabinet  of  Mr.  Fillmore,  the  duty  of  electing  his  suc- 
cessor devolved  upon  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts.  By  a  coali- 
tion of  Free-Soilers  and*  Democrats  in  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Sumner 
was  nominated  for  the  office,  and  was  elected  after  an  earnest  and 
protracted  contest.  The  result  was  regarded  as  a  signal  triumph  of 
the  anti-slavery  party. 

In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Simmer's  first  important 
speech  was  against  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  He  then  announced  his 
great  political  formula,  "  Freedom  is  national,  and  slavery  sectional," 
which  furnished  the  clue  to  his  subsequent  career.  He  argued  that 
Congress  had  no  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  legislate  for  the 
rendition  of  fugitive  slaves,  and  that  the  act  was  not  only  in  conflict 
with  the  Constitution,  but  was  cruel  and  tyrannical/ 

The  great  debate  on  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  the  contest  in 
Kansas  elicited  all  of  Mr.  Sumner's  powers  of  eloquence  and  argu- 
ment. His  great  speech,  published  under  the  title  of  "  The  Crime 
against  Kansas,"  occupied  two  days  in  its  delivery.  Southern  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives  were  greatly  incensed  by  this  speech,  and  it 
was  determined  to  meet  argument  by  blows.  Two  days  after  the 
delivery  of  the  speech,  Preston  S.  Brooks,  a  Representative  fro*m 
South  Carolina,  assaulted  Mr.  Sumner  while  writing  at  his  desk  in 

31 


4  CHARLES    SUMNER. 

the  Senate  Chamber.  Mr.  Sumner,  unarmed  and  powerless  behind 
his  desk,  was  beaten  on  the  head  until  he  fell  insensible  on  the  floor. 
A  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  reported  in  favor  of 
Brooks's  expulsion.  The  resolution  then  reported  received  a  little 
less  than  the  two-thirds  vote  necessary  to  its  adoption.  Mr.  Brooks, 
however,  resigned  his  seat,  pleaded  guilty  before  the  court  at  Wash- 
ington upon  an  indictment  for  assault,  and  was  sentenced  to  a  fine  of 
three  hundred  dollars.  Having  returned  to  his  constituents  to  re- 
ceive their  verdict  on  his  conduct,  he  was  re-elected  to  Congress  by 
a  unanimous  vote.  A  few  days  after  resuming  his  seat  in  Congress, 
he  died  suddenly  of  acute  inflammation  of  the  throat.  0  ' 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Sumner  did  not  fail  to  receive  fhe  endorse- 
ment of  his  constituents.  In  the  following  January,  while  still  dis- 
abled with  his  wounds,  he  was  re-elected  by  an  almost  unanimous 
vote,  in  a  Legislature  consisting  of  several  hundred  members.  In 
the  spring  of  1857  he  went  to  Europe,  by  the  advice  of  his  physician^ 
to  seek  a. restoration  of  his  health,  and  returned  in  the  following 
autumn  to  resume  his  seat  in  the  Senate.  His  health  being  still  im- 
paired, he  again  went  abroad  in  May,  1858,  and  submitted  to  a 
course  of  medical  treatment  of  extraordinary  severity.  After  an 
absence  of  eighteen  months,  he  returned  in  the  autumn  of  1859,  with 
health  restored,  again  to  enter  upon  his  Senatorial  duties. 

It  was  highly  appropriate  that  the  first  serious  effort  of  Mr. 
Sumner,  after  his  return  to  the  Senate,  should  be  a  delineation  of 
"  The  Barbarism  of  Slavery."  In  an  elaborate  and  eloquent  speech, 
which  was  published  under  that  title,  he  denounced  slavery  in  its  in- 
fluence on  character,  society,  and  civilization. 

In  the  Presidential  contest  of  1860,  which  resulted  in  the  election 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Mr.  Sumner  took  an  active  part,  and  was  grati- 
fied in  seeing  the  signal  triumph  of  principles  which  he  had  long 
maintained.  On  the  secession  of  the  rebel  States,  he  earnestly  op- 
posed all  compromise  with  slavery  as  a  means  of  restoring  the  Union. 
He  early  proposed  and  advocated  emancipation  as  the  speediest  mode 
of  bringing  the  war  to  a  close. 


CHARLES     SUMNER.  5 

In  March,  1861,  he  entered  upon  the  responsible  position  of 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Eelations.  In  this  posi- 
tion he  has  rendered  great  service  to  the  country  by  his  vigilant  at- 
tention to  our  interests  as  affected  by  our  relations  with  European 
powers.  His  influence  has  always  been  exerted  to  promote  peace 
and  mutual  understanding.  On  the  9th  of  January,  1862,  he  de- 
livered an  elaborate  speech,  arguing  that  the  seizure  of  Mason  and 
Slidell,  on  board  the  steamer  Trent,  was  unjustifiable  on  the  princi- 
ples of  international  law  which  had  always  been  maintained  by  the 
United  States. 

In  March,  1863,  Mr.  Sumner  entered  upon  his  third  Senatorial  term. 
He  advocated  with  zeal  and  eloquence  all  the  great  Congressional 
measures  which  promoted  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war; 
The  Constitutional  Amendment  abolishing  slavery,  which  was  the 
.  great  afct  of  the  Thirty-Eighth  Congress,  was  a  triumph  of  the  prin- 
ciples long  advocated  by  Mr.  Sumner,  and  forms  a  crowning  glory  of 
his  statesmanship. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  Thirty-Ninth  Congress  Mr.  Sumner  intro- 
•  duced  a  bill  looking  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  rebel  States  under  a 
Republican  form  of  government,  and  a  measure  to  confer  suffrage 
on  the  colored  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

He  took  the  high  ground  that  it  was  the  right  and  duty  of  Con- 
gress, under  the  Constitution,  to  guarantee  impartial  suffrage  in  all 
the  States.  He  was  bold  and  eloquent  in  advocating  the  securing, 
by  Congressional  enactment,  of  equal  civil  and  political  rights  to  all 
men  without  regard  to  color. 

He  earnestly  opposed  the  reconstruction  policy  of  President  John- 
son, and  shuddered  to  see  his  disposition  to  leave  the  freedmen  in 
•the  hands  of  their  late  masters.  On  the  20th  of  December,  1865, 
Mr.  Sumner  denounced  the  President's  "  attempt  to  white  wash  the 
unhappy  condition  of  the  rebel  States,  and  throw  the  mantle  of 
official  oblivion  over  sickening  and  heart-rending  outrages  where  hu- 
man rights  are  sacrificed,  and  rebel  barbarism  receives  a  new  letter 
of  license." 

33 


Q  CHARLES    SUMNER. 

From  first  to  last  Mr.  Sumner  was  one  of  the  boldest  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  President  Johnson's  usurpations.  In  the  great  trial  of  Im- 
peachment he  voted  to  convict  the  President,  and  sustained  his  ver- 
dict in  the  case  by  a  learned  and  able  opinion  concerning  the  law  and 
the  evidence. 

Amid  all  his  official  and  public  labors,  Mr.  Sumner  has  been  con- 
stant in  his  devotion  to  literature.  He  published  in  1850  two 
volumes  of  "  Orations;"  in  1853,  a  work  on  "  White  Slavery  in  the 
Barbary  States;"  and  in  1856,  a  volume  of  "Speeches  and  Ad- 
dresses." Some  of  his  recent  speeches  in  the  Senate  are  as  exhaus- 
tive in  their  treatment  of  their  subjects,  as  elaborate  in  finish,  as 
abundant  in  facts,  and  as  copious  in  details,  as  ordinary  volumes. 
Such,  for  example,  is  the  great  speech  in  the  Senate  on  "  The  Ces- 
sion of  Kussian  America  to  the  United  States,"  in  which  the  geog- 
raphy, history,  and  resources  of  our  newly  acquired  territory  are  set 
forth  more  accurately  and  fully  than  in  any  accessible  treatise  on  the 
subject. 

Mr.  Sumner  is  tall  and  robust  in  person.  He  has  regular  feature-, 
which  bear  the  impress  of  thought  and  culture.  His  head  is  sur- 
mounted by  an  abundance  of  black  hair,  which  is  but  slightly  tinged 
with  gray.  As  a  speaker  he  is  solemn  and  impressive  in  his  manner, 
graceful  in  gesticulation,  and  deliberate  in  utterance.  The  varied 
stores  of  learning  are  so  much  at  his  command  that  he  draws  upon 
them  with  a  frequency  which  sometimes  brings  upon  him  a  charge 
of  pedantry.  By  many  he  is  regarded  as  too  theoretical  and  -too 
little  practical  for  a  successful  statesman.  It  is  his  happiness,  how- 
ever, to  have  lived  to  see  many  of  his  theories,  once  unpopular, 
adopted  as  the  practical  principles  of  the  most  powerful  party  in 
the  nation.  •  , 

34 


^ 


HON  JAMKS   HAHLAN, 
SENATOR   FROU   IOWA 


JAMES   HAELA1ST. 


'AMES  HAKLAN  was  bom  in  Illinois,  August  26,  1820.  At 
the  age  of  three  years,  his  parents  removed  with  him  to 
Indiana,  where  he  was  employed,  during  his  minority,  with 
his  father  in  agricultural  pursuits.  In  the  year  1841  he  entered  the 
Preparatory  Department  of  Asbury  University,  then  under  the  presi- 
dency of  the  present  Bishop  Simpson.  Upon  meager  means  obtained 
by  teaching  at  intervals,  he  managed  to  graduate  at  that  institution 
with  honor  in  1845. 

In  the  winter  of  1845,  being  elected  to  the  Professorship  of  Lan- 
guages in  Iowa  City  College,  he  removed  to  that  city.  Here,  among 
strangers,  he  early  won  for  himself  an  enviable  reputation  for  in- 
dustry, ability,  and  an  unswerving  integrity. 

In  1847  he  was  elected  by  the  people  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction of  the  State  of  Iowa.  This  was  no  ordinary  compliment  to 
a  young  man  who  had  resided  in  the  State  less  than  two  years  when 
the  election  occurred,  especially  when  taken  in  connection  with  the 
fact  that  his  opponent  was  the  Hon.  Charles  Mason,  who  gradu- 
ated at  the  head  of  his  class  at  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point, 
had  served  as  Chief-Justice  of  the  Federal  Court  of  the  Territory 
during  the  entire  period  of  its  existence,  was  conceded  by  all  parties 
to  be  a  gentleman  of  ability  and  unblemished  reputation,  and  who, 
as  a  candidate,  was  the  choice  of  the  party  which  had,  up  to  this 
election,  been  uniformly  triumphant  in  the  State  and  Territory,  and 
continued  so  until  the  Kansas-Nebraska  issue,  except  when  Mr.  Har- 
lan  was  a  candidate. 

In  1848,  Mr.  Harlan  was  superseded  by  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Benton. 

35 


2  JAMES    HARLAN. 

Jr.,  the  officials  insisting  that  the  latter  was  elected  bya  majority  of 
seventeen  votes.  The.  count,  however,  is  now  universally  conceded 
to  have  been  fraudulent.  In  this  year  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and 
commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  Iowa  City.  In  this  profession, 
while  he  remained  in  it,  he  was  eminently  successful ;  but  his  friends 
were  unwilling  to  leave  him  at  the  bar,  however  agreeable  to  him, 
or  however  brilliant  his  prospects  for  a  distinguished  career  in  the 
profession. 

In  1850,  the  people,  eager  to  trust  and  honor  the  5roung  man  who 
in  every  public  position  had  proved  himself  worthy  of  their  confi- 
dence, nominated  him  for  Governor;  but,  not  being  of  constitu- 
tional age  for  that  office,  he  was  compelled  to  disappoint  them  by  de- 
clining the  proffered  honor. 

Continuing  in  the  practice  of  law  until  1853,  he  was  then,  by  the 
Annual  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Church,  elected  President  of  the 
Mount  Pleasant  Collegiate  Institute,  which  during  the  winter  follow- 
ing was  re-organized  with  an  amended  Charter,  under  the  name  of 
the  "lowA  WESLEY  AN  UNIVERSITY."  His  industry  and  energy,  with 
his  varied  learning  and  strong  sense,  compelled  the  same  success  here 
that  had  attended  all  his  undertakings  thus  far,  and  which  has  never 
since  deserted  him. 

After  two  years  of  service  at  the  head  of  the  University,  on  the 
6th  of  January,  1855,  he  was  elected  by  the  Iowa  Legislature  a  United 
States  Senator  for  the  term  commencing  on  the  4th  of  March,  1855, 
and  was  admitted  to  his  seat  Dec.  3d  following.  Upon  this  election 
he  resigned  the  presidency  of  the  University,  and  was  elected  Profes- 
sor of  Political  Economy  and  International  Law. 

His  first  formal  speech  in  the  Senate  was  made  March  27th,  1856, 
on  the  admission  of  Kansas,  and  was  regarded  then,  and  must  bo 
held  by  the  student  of  history  hereafter,  as  one  of  the  ablest  argu- 
ments on  the  right  and  finally  successful  side  of  that  great  contest. 
Such  men  as  Butler  of  South  Carolina,  Cass,  Benjamin,  Toucey,  and 
Douglas  soon  learned  to  respect  the  sturdy  logic  of  the  young  de- 
bater from  the  West.  His  speech  upon  the  occasion  of  presenting  the 


JAMES    HARLAN.  3 

memorial  of  James  H.  Lane,  praying  the  acceptance  of  the  memorial 
of  the  members  of  the  Kansas  Territorial  Legislature  for  the  ad- 
mission of  their  Territory  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  was  a  terrible  de- 
nunciation of  the  great  wrongs  which  the  dominant  party  was  in- 
flicting on  Kansas. 

By  a  party  vote,  stimulated  by  this  recent  arraignment  of  the 
Democracy,  it  was,  January  12th,  1857,  resolved  by  the  Senate, 
"  That  James  Harlan  is  not  entitled  to  his  seat  as  a  Senator  from 
Iowa."  The  character  of  this  decision  may  be  understood  from  the 
following  brief  statement  of  facts :  The  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  Iowa  agreed  to  go  into  joint  session  to  elect  a 
Senator  and  Judges.  After  the  joint  session  had  met  and  adjourned 
from  day  to  day  for  some  time,  it  was  discovered  that  the  Whigs 
were  about  to  be  successful,  and  the  Democratic  Senators  absented 
themselves  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  an  election.  A  quorum  of 
the  joint  session  met,  however,  and  a  clear  majority  of  both  houses 
elected  Mr.  Harlan.  Two  years  after,  the  matter  was  brought  up 
on  the  protest  of  the  Democratic  members  of  the  State  Senate,  and 
Mr.  Harlan  ousted  as  above  stated.  During  these  two  years  of  peace- 
ful occupation  of  his  seat,  a  Presidential  campaign  was  passed  quietly, 
which  might  have  been  endangered  by  such  party  tyranny  in  the 
Senate,  and  Fremont  made  President — hence,  no  doubt,  the  delay. 

But  Mr.  Harlan  repaired,  immediately  to  Iowa  City,  where  the 
State  Legislature  was  in  session.  He  arrived  on  Friday  evening,  and 
was  re-elected  on  the  day  following.  He  spent  a  day  or  two  at  his 
home 'in  Mount  Pleasant,  returned  to  Washington,  was  re-sworn,  and 
resumed  his  seat  on  the  29th  of  the  same  month,  only  seventeen  days 
after  his  expulsion. 

In  1861  he  was  re-elected  for  a  second  Senatorial  term  without  a 
dissenting  voice  among  his  party.  During  his  entire  service  in  the 
Senate,  he  has  acted  in  harmony  with  the  Republican  party,  which 
for  four  or  five  years  was  in  a  meager  minority.  He,  however,  com- 
manded the  respect  of  his  political  opponents  by  his  modest  and  yelt 
fearless  and  able  support  of  the  measures  which  his  judgment  and 

37 


4  JAMES    HARLAN. 

conscience  approved,  by  his  unwearied  industry  in  the  examination 
of  every  subject  of  practical  legislation,  and  by  his  evident  honesty  • 
of  purpose  and  integrity  of  character.  The  leading  measures  sup- 
ported by  the  Republican  party  had  few,  if  any,  more  able  advocates, 
and  none  more  efficient  or  successful  either  .in  the  Senate  or  before 
the  people.  The  published  debates  of  Congress  show  that  he  argued 
and  elucidated  with  great  clearness  and  conclusiveness  every  phase 
of  the  question  of  slavery  and  emancipation,  in  all  their  social,  legal, 
and  economic  ramifications. 

He  was  the  earnest  advocate  of  the  early  construction  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad,  had  made  himself,  by  a  careful  examination,  master  of  the 
whole  subject,  and  was  consequently  appointed  a  member  of  the 
Senate  Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad. 

As  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  he  exerted  a  con- 
trolling influence  in  shaping  the  policy  of  the  Government  in  the 
disposition  of  the  public  domain,  so  as  to  aid  in  the  construction  of 
railroads  and  the  improvement  of  other  avenues  of  intercourse,  as 
well  as  to  advance  the  individual  interests  of  the  frontier  settler  by 
facilitating  his  acquisition  of  a  landed  estate,  and  also  by  securing  a 
permanent  fund  for  the  support  of  common  schools  for  the  masses, 
and  other  institutions  of  learning.  Under  his  guidance  the  laws  for 
the  survey,  sale,  and  pre-emption  of  the  public  lands  were  harmon  !/«•<!, 
and  the  Homestead  Bill  so  modified  as  .to  render  it  a  practical  and 
beneficent  measure  for  the  indigent  settlers,  and  at  the  same  time 
but  slightly  detrimental  to  the  public  treasury. 

Immediately  after  he  was  placed  upon  the  Seriate  Committee  upon 
Indian Affairs,  it  became  manifest  that  he  had  made  himself  ni:i<u-r 
of  that  whole  subject  in  all  its  details.  He  consequently  exercised  a 
leading  influence  on  the  legislation  of  Congress  affecting  our  inter- 
course with  these  children  of  the  forest ;  humanity  and  justice  to 
them,  as  well  as  the  safety  of  the  frontier  settlements  from  savage 
warfare,  being  with  him  cardinal  elements  to  guide  him  in  shaping 
the  policy  of  the  Government.  The  effect  of  the  repeal,  over  Mr. 
Harlan's  earnest  protest,  of  the  beneficent  features  of  the  Indian  In- 


JAMES    HARLAN.  5 

tercourse  laws,  under  the  lead  of  Senator  Hunter,  which  all  admit 
laid, the  foundation  for  our  recent  Indian  wars,  furnishes  a  marked 
illustration  of  the  safety  of  his  counsels  in  these  affairs. 

As  a  member  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Agriculture,  he  was  the 
earnest  advocate  of  every  measure  calculated  to  develop  and  advance 
that  great  national  interest,  and  prepared  the  only  report  marked  by 
scientific  research  made  on  that  subject  by  the  Senate  Committee 
during  the  last  ten  years.  He  gave  his  earnest  support  to  the  Agri- 
cultural College  Bill,  though  in  conflict  with  his  views  of  the  proper 
policy  for  the  disposition  of  the  public  lands,  because  he  regarded  it 
as  the  only  opportunity  for  laying  firmly  the  foundation  for  these 
nurseries  of  scientific  agriculture,  which  must  prove  of  vast  conse- 
quence for  good  to  the  whole  people  of  this  continent  and  the  toiling 
millions  of  the  Old  World. 

It  is  impossible .  in  this  brief  narrative  to  reproduce  even  the 
substance  of  the  many  elaborate  speeches  made  by  him  in  the 
Senate  and  before  the  people.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  as  a 
sample  of  the  whole,  his  speech  in  reply  to  Senator  Hunter  of  Yir- 
ginia,  during  the  winter  of  1860-61,  immediately  preceding  the 
breaking  out  of  the  rebellion.  This  speech  was  characteristic  in 
clearness,  method,  directness,  force,  and  collusiveness,  and  Was  re- 
garded by  his  associates  in  the  Senate  as  the  great  speech  of  the  ses- 
sion. In  the  commencement  he  examines  and  exposes  in  their  order 
every  pretext  for  secession,  and  proceeds  to  charge  upon  the  authors 
of  the  then  incipient  rebellion,  with  unsurpassed  vigor  and  force,  that 
the  loss  of  political  power  was  their  real  grievance.  He  indicated 
the  impossibility  of  any  compromise  on  the  terms  proposed  by  the 
Southern  leaders  without  dishonor,  and  pointed  out  the  means  of  an 
adjustment  alike  honorable  to  the  South  and  North,  requiring  no  re- 
traction of  principle  on  the  part  of  any  one,  by  admitting  the  Terri- 
tories into  the  Union  as  States.  He  warned  the  South  against  a  re- 
sort to  an  arbitrament  of  the  sword ;  predicted  the  impossibility  of 
their  securing  a  division  of  the  States  of  the  Northwest  from  the 

Middle  and  New  England  States ;  the  certainty  and  comparative  dis- 

39 


Q  JAMES    HARLAN. 

patch  with  which  an  armed  rebellion  .would  be  crashed,  and  con- 
cluded with  a  most  powerful  appeal  to  these  conspirators  ncjt  to 
plunge  the  country  into  such  a  sea  of  blood.  Upon  the  conclusion 
of  this  speech,  four-fifths  of  the  Union  Senators  crowded  around  to 
congratulate  him,  and  a  state  of  excitement  prevailed  on  the  floor  of 
the  Senate  for  some  moments  such  as  had  seldom  before  been  wit- 
nessed in  that  body. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  'Peace  Congress ;  but  after  seeing  the 
members  sent  from  the  slave  States,  and  witnessing  the  election  of 
Ex-President  John  Tyler  presiding  officer,  he  predicted  that  its  delib- 
erations would  end  in  a  miserable  failure. 

He  was  also  selected  by  the  Union  members  of  tjie  House  and  Sen- 
ate as  a  member  of  the  Union  Congressional  Committee  for  the  man- 
agement of  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1864.  Being  the  only 
member  of  the  committee  on  the  part  of  the  Senate  who  devoted  his 
whole  time  to  this  work,  he  became  the  active  organ  of  the  com- 
mittee— organized  an  immense  working  force,  regulated  its  finances 
with  ability  and  unimpeachable  fidelity,  employed  a  large  number 
of  presses  in  Washington,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York 
in  printing  reading  matter  for -the  masses,  which  resulted  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  many  millions  of  documents  among  the  people  at  home, 
and  in  all  our  great  armies.  To  his  labors,  therefore,  the  country  is 
doubtless  largely  indebted  for  the  triumphant  success  of  the  Repub- 
lican candidate. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1865,  Mr.  Harlan  was  nominated  by  Pres- 
ident Lincoln  for  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  the  nomi- 
nation was  unanimously  confirmed  by  the  Senate  without  reference  to 
a  committee.  Resigning  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  he  accepted  the  office, 
and  on  the  15th  of  May,  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a 
member  of  President  Johnson's  cabinet. 

His  short  administration  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior  was 
characterized  by  untiring  industry  and  earnest  devotion  to  the  public 
service.  The  gradual  divergence  of  the  line  of  policy  adopted  by  tln» 
President  from  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party,  led  Mr. 

40 


JAMES    HARLAN.      .  7 

Harlan  to  sever  his  connection  with  the  cabinet,  by  his  resignation, 
which  took  effect  September  1,  1866.  Mr.  Harlan  left  the  office  with 
the  approval  of  the  public  for  the  course  he  had  pursued,  and  the  sin- 
cerely expressed  regrets  of  the  President  himself. 

Previous  to  his  resignation  of  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Inte- 
rior, Mr.  Harlan  had  been  re-elected  by  the  Legislature  of  Iowa  to  a 
seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  for  the  term  commencing 
March  4,  1867. 

On  resuming  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  he  was  assigned  to  service  in 
that  body,  on  the  Committees  on  the  District  of  Columbia,  Union 
Pacific  Kailroad,  Post-Offices  and  Post  Roads,  and.  Foreign  Kelations, 
of  the  first  of  which  he  is  Chairman.  This  Committee  is  one  of  the 
most  laborious  belonging  to  the  Senate,  having  in  charge  all  the 
public  interests  of  the  District ;  and'in  addition  to  the  ordinary  du- 
ties of  the  Committee,  Mr.  Harlan  is  now  engaged,  under  the  au- 
thority of  a  resolution  of  the  Senate,  in  codifying  the  local  laws  of 
the  District,  a  work  that  requires  care,  precision,  and  legal  learning 
of  no  common 'order. 

While  Mr.  Harlan,  since  his  return  to  the  Senate,  has  spoken  on  a 
variety  of  subjects,  his  principal  efforts  have  been  his  speech  on  re- 
construction, delivered  on  the  10th  of  February,  1868,  and  his  opin- 
ion as  a  Senator*  in  the  Impeachment  Trial  of  President  Johnson. 
Of  the  former,  it  is  not  unjust  to  others  to  say,  t^iat  no  speech  made 
during  that  long  debate,  presented  the  questions  at  issue  in  a  clearer 
light,  or  in  language  better  suited  to  the  comprehension  of  the  masses 
of  the  people.  It  received  the  warmest  encomiums  of  Mr.  Harlan's 
political  associates  in  the  Senate,  and  thousands  of  copies  were 
subscribed  for  and  circulated  as  &  campaign  document,  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  two  houses  of  Congress.  Of  the  opinion,  it  is  sufficient  to 
say,  that  it  is  a  strictly  legal  document,  applying  the  law  to  the  facts  as 
established  by  the  evidence,  and  so  clear  and  convincing  that  none 
can  doubt  the  sincerity  and  uprightness  of  the  vote  which  followed  it. 

Mr.  Harlan  is  a  man  of  strong-  political  convictions.  This  is 
shown  by  the  whole  tenor  of  his  political  life.  Early  in  life,  long 

41 


g  JAMES    HARLAN. 

before  lie  occupied  official  station,  he  was  identified,  in  feeling  and 
principles,  with  the  anti-slavery  party  of  the  nation.  Almost  at  the 
outset  of  our  late  civil  war,  with  the  eye  of  a  statesman,  he  foresaw 
that  the  rebellion  could  only  result  in  the  enfranchisement  of  the 
•slaves  of  the  South,  and  their  elevation  to  the  dignity  of  American 
citizens.  So  believing,  he  always  acted  consistently  with  that  belief. 
He  was  among  the  first — if  not  the  first — to  advocate  in  the  Senate  the 
organization  of  the  colored  men  everywhere  in  defense  of  the  Union  ; 
and  since  the  close  of  the  war,  he  has  uniformly  spoken  and  voted  in 
favor  of  conferring  upon  them  those  rights  of  citizenship  \\  hirh  they 
have  honorably  won  by  their  endurance  and  bravery  on  the  battle- 
field; thus  proving  himself  the  worthy  representative  of  a  State 
which  has  just  established  impartial  suffrage  by  the  popular  vote  of 
its  citizens.  '  • 

In  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1868,  Mr.  Harlan*  took  an  active 
part-in  promoting  the  success  of  the  Republican  cause.  To  that  i-ml 
he  addressed  .numerous  and  large  audiences  in  the  States  of.  Pennsyl- 
vania, Iowa,  Missouri,  and  Indiana.  On  the  stump,  Mr.  Ilarlan  is  a 
popular  and  powerful  speaker.  Natural  and  graceful  in  hi>  muiim-i-. 
candid  in  his  presentation  of  facts,  skillful  in  portraying  whatever 
tends  to  arouse  the  human  sensibilities,  and  logical  in  hi*  mode  of 
reasoning,  he  has  few  superiors  as  a  popular  orator. 

Senator  Harlan  is  in  the  prime  of  life,  a  Christian  gentleman,  a 
dignified  Senator,  of  good  habits  ,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  vigorous 
health.  He  is  an  example  to  be  admired  and  imitated  by  tin-  young 
men  of  our  country.  As  a  youth  he  worked  his  way  through  «•«  •lli-gi1. 
acquiring  an  education  in  the  face  of  trials  and  obstacles  that  would 
have  deterred  others  from  such  an  undertaking.  As  a  man,  by  ster- 
ling integrity,  a  faithful  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  a  close  adherence 
to  principle,  he  has  earned  the  proud  position  he  now  occupies  before 
the  country,  and  in  the  affections  of  the  people  of  his  State.  lit  i> 
a  bright  exemplar  of  the  benign  influence  of  our  fret-  institutions, 
illustrating  that,  with  energy  and  application,  the  poor  and  Wly 
may  lift  themselves  up  to  the  highest  stations. 

42 


HGNAT.EXAN 


AJOEXAI^DEE    GL    CATTELL. 


OW  that  great  financial  problems,  which  concern  the  honor 
and  even  life  of  the  nation,  are  to  be  solved,  it  is  fortunate 
that  there  are  men  in  the  halls  of  National  Legislation 
whose  ability  to  grapple  with  such  questions  has  been  proven  by  their 
success  in  private  business. 

Such  a  man  is  Alexander  G.  Cattell,  Senator  from  New  Jersey.  He 
was  born  at  Salem,  New  Jersey,  February  12,  1816.  The  town  of 
Salem  was  the  residence  of  his  ancestors  for  more  than  a  century. 
There  lived  his  patriotic  grandfather,  who  in  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion was  singled  out  as  a  special  object  of  British  vengeance  on  ac- 
count of  his  conspicuous  devotion  to  the  American  cause.  One  day 
as  he  was  plowing  in.  the  field,  the  breeze  of  the  morning  wafted 
across  the  Delaware  the  thunder  of  the  cannon  of  the  battle  of  the 
Brandywine.  Turning  his  horses  loose,  he  went  quickly  to  his  house, 
took  down  his  fowling  piece,  rowed  across  the  river,  and,  like  John 
Brown  at  Gettysburg,  took  post  in  the  ranks  and  poured  his  fire  into 
the  enemy.  His  son,  the  father  of  Alexander  G.  Cattell,  inherited 
the  spirit  and  principles  of  his  Revolutionary  sire.  He  was  for  half 
a  century  a  successful  merchant,  and  recently  died,  greatly  respected, 
at  the  age  of  nearly  fourscore  years. 

Mr.  Cattell  being  designed  for  mercantile  business,  received  such  an 
education  as  was  deemed  necessary  for  that  pursuit  forty  years  ago. 
At  the  agre  of  thirteen  he  was  placed  behind  the  counter  of  his  father's 

c5  XT 

store,  where  he  advanced,  before  he  had  attained  his  majority,  to  the 
head  of  a  large  and  flourishing  business  of  his  own. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-four,  Mr.  Cattell  was  elected  to  "the  Legisla- 
43 


2  ALEXANDER    G.    CATTELL. 

tureofNew  Jersey,  and  in  1844  was  a  member  of  the  Convention 
called  to  revise  the  State  Constitution.  Although  the  youngest  mem- 
ber of  that  body,  which  embraced  the  leading  men  of  the  State,  he 
was  second  to  none  in  ability  and  influence.  Distinguished  for 
sound  common  sense,  a  choice  command  of  language,  and  a  graceful 
and  forcible  delivery,  he  never  rose  to  speak  without  commanding 
the  respectful  attention,  and  generally  securing  the  conviction  of  his 
auditors.  • 

While  success  crowned  his  commercial  operations  in  his  native  town, 
he  possessed  capabilities  for  a  career  of  enterprise  and  competition 
in  a  more  extensive  field.  Accordingly,  in  1846,  he  removed  to  Phil- 
adelphia, where  he  entered  into  mercantile  business,  first  with  Mr.  E. 
G.  James,  and  afterwards  with  his  brother,  Mr.  Elijah  G.  Cattell.  He 
soon  became  extensively  engaged  in  the  shipment  of  grain  and  other 
produce  to  foreign  markets.  He  soon  became  a  prominent  member, 
and  afterwards  President,  of  the  Corn  Exchange  Association  -of  Phil- 
adelphia, which  won  honorable  eminence  among  the  business  boards 
of  that  city  for  its  public  spirit  and  patriotic  devotion  to  the  interests 
of  the  country.  The  Association  is  composed  of  many  of  the  most 
liberal  and  wealthy  merchants  of  Philadelphia.  Through  their  enter- 
prise, energy,  and  sagacious  management,  the  grain  trade  of  that 
city  was  developed,  until  it  has  become  a  commercial  interest  of  the 
greatest  magnitude.  . 

The  Com  Exchange  became  conspicuous,  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
civil  war,  as  a  pre-eminently  loyal  body  of  citizens.  When  the  news 
reached  Philadelphia  that  the  rebellion  of  the  South  had  culminated 
in  the  attack. on  Fort  Sumter,  the  Association  then  assembled  for 
their  daily  business  laid  aside  their  "  samples,"  and  raising  the  flag 
of  the  country  in  front  of  their  hall,  pledged  themselves  to  keep  it 
floating  till  the  rebellion  shpuld  be  subdued,  and  the  honor  of  that 
flag  vindicated.  They  contributed  largely  to  aid  in  the  enlistment  of 
men,  and  the  support  of  the  families  of  such  as  went  to  fight  the  bat- 
tles of  the  country.  The  Association  recruited,  organized,  and  e<j  u  i  p- 
ped  two  and  a  half  regiments  for  the  field.  Mr.  Cattell  was  chair- 

44 


ALEXANDER    G.    CATTELL.  3 

man  of  the  special  committee  under  whose  supervision  the  patriotic 
service  was  performed. 

As  a  testimonial  of  the  esteem  in  which  Mr.  Cattell  was  held  by 
his  associates  in  this  work,  they  voted. that  when  the  old  flag-staff  at 
the  camp,  around  which  their  regiments  had  rallied,  was  taken  down, 
it  should  be  planted  on  the  grounds  of  his  country  seat.  When  this 
was  done,  a  magnificent  flag  was  presented  to  him  with  interesting 
and  appropriate  ceremonies. 

During  the  war  for  the  suppression  of  the  Rebellion,  Mr.  Cattell 
gave  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration  the  utmost  support  of  his  talents, 
money,  and  influence.  Few  enjoyed  to  a  greater  degree  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  that  great  and  good  man. 

During  Mr.  Cattell's  residence  in  Philadelphia  he  was  several  times 
a  member  of  both  branches  of  the  municipal  government."  As  a  leg- 
islator for  the  city  he  ever  had  a  careful  regard  for  the  great  public 
and  private  interests  intrusted  to  his  care. 

No  mercantile  house  in  Philadelphia  has  stood  higher  than  that 
of  A.  G.  Cattell  &  Co.  in  a  character  for  the  enterprise  and  integrity 
that  form  the  basis  of  commercial  success.  Mr.  Cattell  had  other 
business  connections,  first  as  Director  of  the  Mechanics'  Bank,  and 
then  as  President  of  the  Corn  Exchange  Bank,  proving  himself  to  be 
an  able  "financier,  fully  meeting  the  expectations  which  were  formed 
of  his  character  and  talents  from  his  previous  career. 

In  1855  Mr.  Cattell  resumed  his  residence  in  his  native  State,  mak- 
ing his  home  in  an  elegant  villa  about  three  miles  from  the  city  of 
Camden,  where  he  now  resides. 

In  1866  Mr.  Cattell  was  elected  a  Senator  in  Congress,  from  New 
Jersey.  "  The  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by  those  who  know  him  best," 
says  Rev.  Dr,.  Carrow,  one  of  his  biographers,  "  may  be  inferred  from 
the  fact  that,  at  the  last  regular  session  of  the  Legislature,  the  Republi- 
can members  refused  to  go  into  an  election  rather  than  fail  to  secure 
his  triumph.  In  this  case  the  members  were  influenced  not  so  much 
by  personal  partialities  as  by  their  conviction  of  his  pre-eminent  fitness 

for  the  great  post  of  a  Senator  in  Congress  in  these  critical  times." 

45 


4  ALEXANDER    G.    CATTELL. 

Senator  Catfcll,  by  his  course  in  Congress,  has  shown  that  the  con- 
fidence of  his  party  was  not  misplaced.  He  has  been  firm,  consistent, 
and  able  in  his  support  of  the  principles  he  avows. 

Since  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  December  3,  1866,  the  voice 
and  vote  of  Mr.  Cattell  have  been  given  in  favor  of  all  the  great 
measures  of  public  policy  which  have  given  to  Congress  so  prominent 
a  place  in  the  history  of  the  country.  Mr.  Cattell's  speeches  abound 
in  facts  and  figures  so  combined  as  to  be  most  effective  in  argu1 
ment.  At  the  same  time  his  speeches  are  not  devoid  of  rhetorical 
beauties  calculated  to  charm  the  most  indifferent  hearer. 

To  illustrate  this,  and  at  the  same  time  give  a  hint  of  Mr.  Cattell's 
views  concerning  the  results  of  the  war,  we  quote  the  closing  para- 
graphs of  his  speech,  delivered  in  the  Senate  January  22,  1867,  on 
a  "  Bill  to  Provide  Increased  Revenue  from  Imports : " 

"  The  conflict  is  ended,  and,  God  be  praised,  the  right  has  tri- 
umphed ;  and  having  thus  elevated  four  million  human  beings  from 
chains  and  slavery  to  freedom  and  to  manhood,  let  us  address  ourselves 
to  the  work  of  stimulating  the  industrial  energies  of  the  nation,  BO 
that  free  labor  shall  find  its  wonted,  employment,  and  receive  its  just 
reward. 

"Perfect  this  bill,  and  then  make  it  a  law,  and  hope  and  cojiragfe 
will  spring  up  throughout  the  nation.  The  fires  of  a  thousand  forges, 
and  mills,  and  furnaces,  will  illumine  the  land,  and  the  ceaseless  hum 
of  a  million  whirling  spindles  will  chant  the  praises  of  the  American 
Congress  that  had  the  wisdom  to  understand,  and  the  fidelity  to 
maintain  the  principles  of  the  American  system." 

46 


HONCHARLF.fi    H    [MJf'KA 

SKNATOP  FROM  PKMNSYVMNl. 


CHARLES  E.   BUOKALEW. 


IHAKLES  E.  BUCKALEW  was  born  in  Columbia  County, 
Pennsylvania,  December  28,1821.  JEEe  is  of  French  descent, 
his  ancestors  having  emigrated  to  this  country  on  occasion 
of  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  His  father  and  grand- 
father were  private  citizens,  undistinguished  by  wealth  or  position. 

We  have  but  scanty  information  concerning  Mr.  Buckalew 
in  his  boyhood,  whether  in  respect  to  his  youthful  occupations,  the 
extent  of  his  educational  advantages,  or  other  circumstances  of  inter- 
est. He  once  narrowly  escaped  drowning,  when  he  was  the  sub- 
ject of  those  peculiar  mental  experiences  which  are  thought  to  indi- 
cate for  the  soul  a  future  existence  independent  of  the  body. 

Mr.  Buckalew  adopted  the  profession  of  law,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  1843.  From  1845  to  1847,  he  was  Prosecuting  Attorney  for 
his  native  County,  and  from  1850  to  1856  was  a  Senator  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania Legislature.  Meanwhile,  he  served  also  as  a  Commissioner 
to  exchange  the  ratification  of  a  treaty  with  the  Government  of  Para- 
guay ;  and  was,  in  1856,  a  Senatorial  Presidential-Elector.  In  1857, 
he  was  Chairman  of  the  State  Democratic  Committee,  was  re-elected 
to  the  State  Senate,  and  was  appointed  a  Commissioner  to  revise  the 
Penal  Code  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1858,  he  resigned  the  two  latter 
positions,  and  was  appointed  by  President  Buchanan  Resident  Min- 
ister to  Ecuador,  whence  he  returned  in  1861.  In  1863  he  was 
elected  a  Senator  in  Congress  from  Pennsylvania,  by  a  majority  of 
one  vote,  for  the  term  ending  in  1869. 

Mr.  Buckalew  is  not  so  frequent  a  speaker  as  many  in  the  Senate, 
and  yet  he  is  not  silent  in  that  great  national  council.  In  the  com- 

47 


2  CHARLES    R.    BUCKALEW. 

mencement  of  his  speech  on  the  "Basis  of  Kepresentation,"  Febru 
ary  21,  1865,  he  remarked  that  he  had  previously  refrained  from 
speech-making,  supposing  that  "while  the  passions  of  the  country 
were  influenced  by  the  war,  reason  could  not  be  heard."  And  he  took 
occasion  to  express  regret  that  "  questions  pertaining  to  the  war  still 
occupied  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  exclusion  of  those  connect- 
ed with  economy,  revenue,  finance,  ordinary  legislation,  and  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice-^questions  which  require  intelligence,  investi- 
gation, labor,  and  the  habits  of  the  student." 

As  an  argument  /or  changing  the  basis  of  representation  as  it 
existed,  Mr.  Buckalew  gave  statistical  details  showing  the  various  ra- 
tios of  representation  in  the  Senate,  as  possessed  respectively  by  the 
East,  West,  and  South.  He  maintained  that  New  England  had  top 
great  a  preponderance  of  power  in  the  Senate,  both  as  to  membership 
and  the  chairmanship  of  committees.  "  While,"  said  he, "  the  popu- 
lation of  the  East  is  less  than  one-seventh  of  the  population  of  the 
States  represented  in  the  Senate,  she  has  the  chairmanship  of  one- 
third  of  the  committees.  The  chairmanship  of  a  committee  is  a  posi- 
tion of  much  influence  and  power.  The  several  distinguished  gentle- 
men holding  that  position  have  virtual  control  over  the  transaction 
of  business,  both  in  Committee  and  in  the  Senate." 

Mr.  Buckalew  thus  presented  the  effect  of  restoration  of  represen 
tation  to  the  Southern  States  upon  the  relative  position  of  New  Eng 
land:  "Twenty-two  Senators  from  the  Southern  States,  and  two 
•  from  Colorado — being  double  the  number  of  those  from  the  East- 
would  reduce  the  importance  of  the  latter  in  the  Senate;  and  remit 
her  back  to  the  condition  in  which  she  stood  in  her  relations  to  the 
Union  before  the  war.  True,  she  would  even  then  possess  much 
more  than  her  proportion  of  weight  in  the  Senate,  regard  being  had 
to  her  population ;  but  she  would  no  longer  dominate  or  control  the 
Government  of  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Buckalew  opposed  also  the  proposition  to  grant  negro  suffrage 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  "  The  objection,"  said  he, "  which  I  have 
to  a  large  extension  of  suffrage  in  this  couutry,  whether  by  Federal 

48 


CHARLES    R.    BUCKALEW.  3 

or  State  power,  is  this :  That  thereby  you  will  corrupt  and  degrade 
elections,  and  probably  lead  to  their  complete  abrogation  hereafter. 
By  pouring  into  the  ballot-boxes  of  the  country  a  large  mass  of  ig- 
norant votes,  and  votes  subjected  to  pecuniary  or  social  influence,  you 
will  corrupt  and  degrade  your  elections,  and  lay  the  foundation  for 
their  ultimate  destruction." 

Mr.  Buckalew,  by  speech  and  vote,  opposed  the  Civil  Eights  Bill, 
the  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bill,  and  also  the  Military  Keconstruction 
Bill. 

In  a  speech  on  the  last  named  measure,  Mr.  Buckalew  thus  presents 
his  view  of  its  character : 

"  Now,  sir,  what  does  this  bill  do  ?  It  provides,  in  a  section  of 
country  thus  subjected  to  military  rule  the  most  unlimited,  for  the  or- 
ganization of  civil  governments,  State  governments,  and  how  ?  The 
military  commander  of  the  district  is  to  appoint  whomsoever  he- 
pleases,  to  act  under  whatever  rules  he  may  prescribe,  according  to- 
his  own  pleasure,  his  own  unregulated  will,  as  agents  and  oflicers,  to 
execute  the  plan  of  re-organization  proposed,  and  these,  his  appointees, 
owing  no  obedience  to  any  known  law,  and  without  rule  or  regula- 
tion foi  their  conduct,  other  than  that  which  he  shall  prescribe,  are 
to  proceed  to  enumerate  the  inhabitants,  or  rather,  to  register  the 
electors  among  them,  preliminary  to  what  ?  Why,  sir,  to  their  exer- 
cise of  the  most  valuable  and  fundamental  privilege  of  freemen — the 
institution  of  government  for  themselves.  And  for  any  abuse  of 
power,  for  any  outrage,  for  any  misconduct  whatever,  this  bill  and 
its  predecessor  are  utterly  destitute  of  any  provision  for  punishment." 

Mr.  Buckalew  is  the  ardent  advocate  of  a  "  representative  reform," 
by  which  minorities  may  have  representation  in  the  legislative  bodies 
of  the  country,  proportionate  to  their  numbers.  In  advocacy  of  this 
scheme,  he  delivered  an  able  and  instructive  address  in  Philadelphia, 
jSTovember  19,  1867.  In  illustrating  what  he  termed  the  "  cumulative 
vote,"  and  its  influence  on  elections,  Mr.  Buckalew  said :  "  There  are 
60,000  voters  in  Vermont,  of  whom  40,000  are  members  of  the  Ke- 

publican  party,  and  20,000  of  the  Democratic  party.     I  speak  in 

49 


4  CHARLES    R.    BUCKALEW. 

round  numbers.  By  law  that  State  is  entitled  to  three  Representa- 
tives  in  Congress,  because  her  population,  under  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  authorizes  the  allotment  of  that  number  to  her. 
Now,  what  ought  to  take  place  there  ?  The  majority  should  elect 
two  Representatives,  having  40,000  votes,  and  the  minority  should 
elect  one,  having  20,000  votes ;  but  can  that  be  so  in  point  of  fact  at 
present  ?  If  the  electors  of  that  State  vote  for  three  Representatives 
by  general  ticket,  the  majority  would  elect  the  whole  three.  By  cu- 
mulative voting,  by  authorizing  the  20,000  minority  electors  of  that 
State  to  give  each  three  votes  to  one  candidate,  that  candidate  would 
receive  60,000  votes,  and  the  majority  cannot  defeat  him.  The  ma- 
jority voting  for  two  Representatives  can  elect  them,  but  they  cannot 
elect  the  third.  Suppose  they  attempt  to  vote  for  three  candidates, 
they  can  only  give  each  of  them  40,000  votes,  and  the  minority  can- 
didate has  60,000.  If  they  attempt  to  vote  for  two,  as  they  ought  to 
do,  that  being  the  number  they  are  entitled  to,  they  can  give  them 
60,000  votes  each,  the  same  number  that  the  minority  candidate  has. 
If  they  attempted  to  vote  for  one,  they  would  give  that  one  candidate 
120,000 ;  but  of  course  they  would  not  throw  away  their  votes  in  that 
foolish  manner.  The  practical  result  would  be  that  the  40,000  major- 
ity electors  in  that  State  would  vote  for  two  candidates  and  elect  them, 
and  the  20,000  minority  electors  would  vote  for  one  and  elect  him,  and 
results  analogous  to  this  would  occur  all  over  the  United  States  if  this 
system  were  applied." 

50 


H  ON  JOHN   CON  NESS 

SENATOR    FROM    CALIFORKIA 


CCOTJ^ESS. 


'OHN"  CONFESS  is  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  was  born  in 
1822.  At  thirteen  years  of  age  he  came  to  this  country, 
whither  he  had  been  preceded  by  some  enterprising  brothers. 
By  their  kindness  he  was  favored  with  the  advantages  of  academical 
education.  Soon  after  arriving  at  manhood,  he  departed  for  Califor- 
nia among  the  earliest  emigrants  to  that  country.  There  he  devoted 
himself  with  success  to  mining  and  mercantile  pursuits. 

Turning  his  attention  to  politics,  he  was,  in  1852,  elected  to  the 
State  Legislature,  in  which  he  held  a  seat  during  four  successive 
terms.  In  1859,  he  was  a  candidate  for  Lietitenant-Governor ;  and  in 
1861,  he  was  the  Union  Democratic  candidate  for  Governor.  In 
1863,  he  was  elected  a  Senator  in  Congress  from  California  for  the  term 
ending  in  1869.  He  has  served  in  the  Senate  on  the  Committees  on 
Finance  and  the  Pacific  Railroad,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Mines  and  Mining,  and  as  a  member  also  of  the  Committee  on  Post- 
Offices  and  Post  Roads. 

Mr.  Conness  ranks  among  the  efficient  and  active  members  of  the 
Senate.  .  The  record  clearly  shows  him  to  be  vigilant  and  awake  to 
all  the  great  questions  naturally  passing  in  review  before  the  Senate. 
His  speeches  are  generally  brief  and  to  the  point,  giving  evidence  of 
excellent  sense,  and  a  fearless  aim  to  accomplish  what  appears  to  him 
to  be  his  duty  as  a  legislator,  regardless  of  favor  or  reproach.  As  il- 
lustrative of  all  this,  we  may  select  almost  at  random  various  passages 
from  his  speeches  on  different  occasions. 

Pending  the  question  of  dropping  from  the  roll  of  the  army  unem- 
ployed general  officers,  Mr.  Conness,  January  6,  1865,  submitted 

51' 


2  JOHN    CONNESS. 

the  following  remarks,  which  must  impress  the  reader  as  both  curi- 
ous and  interesting : 

"  Early  in  the  conduct  of  this  war,  nominations  for  high  ranks 
were  easily  obtained.  The  result  was,  that  inefficient  men — men 
unable  and  unfit  to  conduct  our  armies  to  victory  and  success — ob- 
tained the  highest  rank  in  the  army ;  and  the  consequences  were 
losses  in  every  direction  to  the  national  cause.  Why,  sir,  at  a  cer- 
tain period,  during  the  last  session  of  Congress,  we  desired  a  new 
Department  Commander  for  the  Pacific  Department,  and,  anxious  to 
send  an  officer  there  of  good  ability,  of  high  military  skill,  that  that 
country  might  be  organized  and  prepared  for  an  emergency  likely  to 
arise — possible,  at  least,  to  arise — I  had  several  conferences  with  the 
Secretary  of  War ;  I  had  an  examination,  with  that  officer,  of  the 
long  lis.t  of  unemployed  major-generals  and  brigadier-generals  then 
under  the  pay  of  the  Government,  and  without  public  employment ; 
and  if  I  were  at  liberty  here  to  repeat  the  comment  that  followed  the 
name  of  each  in  those  various  conferences,  it  would  demonstrate  the 
necessity  of  action  somewhere  to  rid  the  country  of  the  unnecessary 
and  profitless  burden  that  those  gentlemen  in  high  rank,  holding  liiirh 
commissions  under  the  Government,  imposed  upon  it.  It  was  five 
months  before  an  officer  deemed  competent  to  send  to  that  depart- 
ment could  be  selected,  by  the  exercise  of  the  greatest  wisdom,  from 
the  long  list  of  the  then  unemployed  generals  in  the  United  States 
army." 

In  the  Fortieth  Congress  Mr.  Conness  has  distinguished  himself  by 
the  earnestness  and  ability  with  which  he  advocated  measures  de- 
signed to  protect  American  citizens  abroad.  He  successfully  urged 
the  passage  of  an  "  Eight-Hour  Law."  When  this  bill  was  pending 
in  the  Senate,  he  made  a  speech  in  which  occurs  the  following  pas- 


"  When  I  saw  the  column  of  Burnside,  thirty  thousand  or  forty 
thousand  strong,  marching  through  this  city  to  the  sanguinary  fields 
between  the  Wilderness  and  Eichmond  and  Cold  Harbor,  inclusive, 
and  stood  where  I  could  see  the  eye  of  every  man  in  the  column, 


JOHN    CONNESS.  3 

[  saw  scarcely  any  but  those  who  had  the  marks  of  toil  and  stal- 
wart labor,  black  and  white ;  and  if  I  never  before  that  time  rev- 
erenced the  men  who  labor,  I  should  do  it  beginning  at  that  period 
of  my  life;  but  it  was  not  necessary  for  me  to  begin  then. 

"Now,  Mr.  President,  there  is  considerable  agitation  in  this  coun- 
try upon  this  question  of  whether  a  day's  labor  shall  be  constituted 
of  eight  or  ten  hours,  and  I  have  no  doubt  there  are  those  who  think 
if  this  bill  be  passed,  and  the  example  be  set  by  the  Government,  the 
eight-hour  rule  will  follow  in  other  industries  conducted  in  the 
'  country.  Well,  sir,  I  hope  it  will.  A  personal  experience  enables  me 
to  say  that  I  could,  myself,  perform  more  labor  in  eight  hours  than 
in  ten,  taking  any  given  week  for  the  average ;  and  then  it  gave  more 
hours  for  study.  Many  and  many  a  morning,  at  two  o'clock,  when 
I  labored  ten  and  eleven  hours  a  day  in  my  youth,  found  me 
yet  endeavoring  to  enable  myself  to  take  my  rank  among  my  fel- 
lows in  society ;  and  I  desire,  by  my  vote  and  voice,  if  that  can  in- 
fluence any  one,  to  give  an  equal  opportunity  to  the  youths  of  the 
land  connected  with  labor  and  toil.  Let  no  man  forget,  because  his 
task  is  made  easy  in  this  world,  the  thousands,  the  tens  of  thousands, 
and  the  hundreds  of  thousands  who  labor  and  toil  for  an  ill-requited 
compensation,  for  a  small  compensation  scarcely  sufficient  to  furnish 
bread,  much  less  to  enable  them  to  educate  their  children  and  bring 
them  up  fit  to  be  citizens  of  this  Eepublic.  Make  their  path  as  easy 
as  you  can,  by  limiting  their  hours  of  labor.  Give  them  time  to 
think." 

As  a  specimen  of  efiective  "  stump  oratory,"  we  quote  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  a  speech  delivered  by  Mr.  Conness  in  Cooper  Insti- 
tute. New  York,  September  30,  1868,  before  an  immense  audience 
composed  largely  of  Irish- Americans :  "  I  come  before  you  to-night, 
fellow-citizens,  as  one  of  yourselves,  as  one  of  a  class  of  Americans 
denominated  Irish- Americans.  [Applause.]  I  will  not  say,  I  know 
I  could  not  say,  that  there  can  be  any  title  higher  than  that 
of  an  American  citizen.  [Applause.]  And  while  some  of  us  may 

be  denominated,  and  may  be  better  known  as  Irish-Americans,  it 

53 


4  JOHN    CONNESS. 

should  be  our  boast  peculiarly  that  we  are  Americans,  and  Americans 
alone— [Applause]— not  forgetting  our  origin,  not  forgetting  the  trials 
of  the  land  we  came  from,  and  the  race  from  which  we  sprang,  for 
that  but  sharpens  the  mental  appetite  for  liberty,  as  we  find,  it  estab- 
lished here, — [Cheers] — but  as  American  citizens  simply,  owning  a 
part  in  the  great  cause  of  the  Republic  established  by  the  fathers, 
and  maintained  by  their  sons,  to  go  down,  I  trust,  to  all  posterity 
for  ever.  [Applause.]  We  have  a  high  title  in  having  a  part  in  that 
cause,  and  in  being  known  as  American  citizens.  [Cheers.]  The 
American  people,  in  a  short  time,  are  to  determine  who  shall  be  the 
Executive,  to  give  to  the  Republic  a  guardian  of  its  interests ;  a  safe- 
guard, so  far  as  an  Executive  can  be  such,  to  the  principles  upon  which 
the  Republic  is  founded,  and  we  are  to  replace  the  man  now  filling 
that  station  by  an  accident — [Laughter  and  cheers] — with  not  only 
the  greatest  military  leader  of  the  world,  but,  greater  than  his  mili- 
tary leadership,  one  of  the  simplest  and  the  most  virtuous  citizens  of 
America — a  man  who  advanced,  as  he  need  not  have  done — and  yet 
'twas  well  done — that  he  is  not  to  have  a  policy  against  at  once  the 
intelligence  and  the  virtue  of  the  American  people — [Applause] — but 
whose  policy,  if  he  is  elected  President,  will  be  to  give  reality  and  effect 
to  that  intelligence  and  virtue.  [Cheers.]  "What  is  to  be  tried,  and 
what  is  being  tried,  in  the  contest  that  is  now  going  on  for  the  Presi- 
dential office  is,  whether,  after  the  nation,  at  the  cost  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  lives,  and  thousands  of  millions  of  treasure,  maintained 
intact  the  national  integrity — whether  that  integrity  shall  be  contin- 
uously maintained,  and,  in  addition,  whether  the  great  principles  of 
liberty,  law  and  humanity,  vindicated  and  re-established  by  our  grand 
successes  against  rebellion,  shall  also  be  maintained,  and  also 
whether,  in  addition  still,  the  measures  that  the  American  people 
have  found  it  necessary  to  enact  to  maintain  the  condition  of  things 
shall  be  carried  out." 

54 


HON.  JAMES  R.DOOLITTLE, 

SENATOR  FROM  WISCONSIN 


JAMES   E.   DOOLITTLE. 


;HE  ancestry  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  is  part  English, 
part  Irish,  and  part  Scotch.  The  paternal  line  was  entirely 
English,  and  in  early  times  it  was  connected  with  the  Pu- 
ritans in  England.  On  the  mother's  side  the  ancestors  were  Presby- 
terians from  the  north  of  Ireland.  His  parents  were  born  in  New 
England,  but  early  in  life  they  removed  to  the  village  of  Hampton, 
Washington  County,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  where  James  E.. 
Doolittle  was  born,  January  3,  1815.  Four  years  after  his  birth  his 
parents  removed  to  Wethersfield  Springs,  in  Wyoming  County.  At 
that  time  this  part  of  the  country  was  a  wilderness.  But  the  father, 

man  of  great  energy  and  prudence,  was  not  long  in  acquiring  prop- 
erty and  influence  in  the  community  which  grew  up  around  him. 
Although  without  the  advantage  of  a  college  education,  he  was 
always  an  earnest  advocate  of  schools.  He  possessed  a  well  balanced 
mind,  firm  religious  principles  and  liberal  views,  and  was  the  first  to 
establish  an  Episcopal  church  at  Wethersfield. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen,  young  Doolittle  entered  college  at  Geneva, 
New  York,  and  four  years  later  graduated  with  the  honors  of  his 
class.  At  school  he  was  especially  proficient  in  Mathematics  and 
Greek.  Even  at  that  time  he  had  developed  unusual  oratorical  talent 
in  the  debating  societies  connected  with  the  institution. 

After  leaving  college,  he  read  law  with  Isaac  Hill  of  Rochester. 
During  the  three  years  of  legal  study  then  required  before  admission 
to  the  bar,  he  sometimes  taught  Mathematics,  Greek,  and  Elocution. 
In  1836,  he  was  admitted  to  practice  law  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  soon  after  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  L.  Cutting,  of  Warsaw.  He 

established  himself  in  Rochester,  where  he  remained  for  two  years. 

55 


2  JAMES    R.    DOOLITTLE. 

The  illness  of  a  brother,  which  afterwards  terminated  in  death,  in- 
duced him  to  return  to  Wyoming  County.  There  continuing  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  he  was  elected  District- Attorney  in  1845,  in 
a  county  largely  opposed  to  him  in  politics.  He  performed  the  duties 
of  the  office  with  ability,  and  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  constituents. 

In  the  year  1851,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six,  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  Wisconsin,  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Kacine,  which  has 
since  that  time  been  his  home.  In  a  new  State,  surrounded  by  young 
and  active  men,  he  soon  distinguished  himself.  He  was  employed  by 
the  Governor  of  Wisconsin  to  take  charge  of  several  cases  for  the 
State ;  on  the  ground,  as  the  Governor  said,  that  Mr.  Doolittle  was  a 
man  of  ability,  and  could  not  be  bought.  He  was  successful  in  ob- 
taining decisions  in  favor  of  the  State.  In  1853,  he  was  chosen  Judge 
of  the  First  Judicial  District  of  Wisconsin,  but  resigned  in  1856,  to 
resume  the  practice  of  the  law. 

At  this  time  the  country  was  agitated  by  the  troubles  in  Kansas. 
The  Democratic  party,  then  in  control  of  the  Government,  lent  itself 
to  the  establishing  of  slavery  in  that  Territory.  When  this  course 
had  been  decided  upon,  he  left  the  Democratic  party,  and  assisted  in 
the  organization  of  the  Republican  party.  The  State  of  Wisconsin 
voted  for  Fremont,  but  Mr.  Buchanan  was  elected  President. 

In  185T,  the  Legislature  of  Wisconsin  elected  Mr.  Doolittle  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  in  1863  he  was  re-elected  to  the 
same  position.  In  1860,  he  sustained  Mr.  Lincoln ;  afid  in  1864  aided 
his  re-election  to  the  Presidency. 

For  many  years  he  was  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Indian 
Affairs  of  the  Senate,  and  gave  direction  to  the  Indian  policy  of  the 
Government.  Always  opposed  to  harsh  measures,  he  sought  to  avert 
conflicts  and  to  establish  peaceful  relations  between  the  races  on  the 
frontier.  In  1865,  Congress  appointed  a  joint  committee  to  visit  the 
Indian  country,  and  ascertain  the  necessities  of  the  situation.  Mr. 
Doolittle  was  chosen  chairman,  and  in  this  capacity,  with  Senator 
Foster  and  Hon.  Lewis  Ross  of  the  House,  as  one  portion  of  the 
Commission,  visited  the  Indians  of  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  and  the 


JAMES    R.    DOOLITTLE.  3 

Plains.  One  result  of  this  enterprise  was  the  prevention  of  a  war 
with  the  numerous  nation  of  Camanches,  by  restraining  one  of  our 
ambitious  brigadier-generals  from  marching  his  troops  across  the  Ar- 
kansas with  the  purpose  of  inaugurating  hostilities.  This  one  thing 
saved  the  Government  at  least  thirty  millions  of  dollars.  An  incident 
occurred  at  Denver  in  Colorado,  which  illustrates  the  character  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  He  was  invited  to  address  the  people  on  In- 
dian Affairs,  for  his  views  had  much  to  do  in  determining  the  policy 
of  the  Government  in  that  regard.  It  was  only  a  few  months  after 
the  Sand  Creek  massacre,  where  peaceable  Cheyenne  Indians  of  both 
sexes,  old  and  young,  had  been  slaughtered  by  wholesale  at  the  insti- 
gation of  Colonel  Chivington.  The  meeting  was  held  in  the  theater 
which  only  a  short  time  before  had  been  decorated  with  the  scalps 
of  more  than  a  hundred  Cheyennes,  as  trophies  of  the  slaughter. 

Mr.  Doolittle  commenced  his  speech,  but  had  not  proceeded  far  be- 
fore announcing  the  opinion  that  the  Indians  should  be  treated  with 
kindness  and  fairness,  and  allowed  to  pass  away  from  the  face  of  the 
earth  in  peace,  and  not  exterminated  by  the  whites.  This  opinion 
was  no  sooner  stated  than  the  whole  audience  raised  a  howl  of  rage, 
rose  to  their  feet,  some  of  them  brandishing  pistols,  and  tried  to  hiss 
the  speaker  from  the  stage.  But  they  had  mistaken  the  man.  He 
folded  his  arms  and  gazed  with  cool  defiance  at  the  infuriated  mass. 
They  fired  no  shots,  but  in  silence  and  "awe  soon  resumed  their  seats, 
struck  dumb  by  the  courage  and  self-possession  of  the  man.  The 
speaker  continued  his  remarks  without  further  interruption,  and  did 
not  spare  the  feelings  or  the  prejudices  of  his  audience.  No  man, 
unless  possessed  of  physical  and  moral  courage,  could  have  braved 
such  a  storm  of  passion. 

In  dealing  with  the  negro  question,  which  for  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century  has  engrossed  the  attention  of  statesmen,  and  agitated 
and  disturbed  the  country,  he  has  maintained  the  theories  of  Jeffer- 
son, in  which  he  was  schooled  in  youth.  He  has  always  opposed 
slavery  and  its  extension,  and  favored  a  gradual  separation  of  the 
races  by  colonization  or  any  other  peaceful  means.  During  a  public 

57 


4  JAMES    R.    DOOLITTLE. 

life  of  twenty-five  years,  he  has  never  swerved  from  those  fundamental 
ideas.  Always  a  Democrat,  when  his  party  did  not  attempt  or  con- 
nive at  the  extension  of  slavery,  yet  when  any  such  attempt  was 
made,  he  was  always  among  the  first  to  break  from  his  party.  In 
1848,  he  was  a  Free-Soil  Democrat.  In  1856,  when  an  attempt  was 
made  to  force  slavery  into  the  Territory  of  Kansas,  he  abandoned  the 
Democratic  party  in  the  pride  of  its  power,  and  became  a  Republican. 
Before  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  he  often  urged  the  Southern  leaders 
to  adopt  a  system  of  gradually  colonizing  the  negroes  of  the  South  in 
Central  America,  and  thus  remove  the  only  cause  which  was  dis- 
turbing the  peace  of  the  country.  But  his  admonitions  were  un- 
heeded, as  well  by  the  extreme  Republicans  as  by  the  men  of  the 
South.  The  same  plan  which  Henry  Clay  had  advocated,  without 
material  success,  was  again  rejected,  and  the  almost  inevitable  se- 
quence, in  the  excited  condition  of  the  public  mind,  was  civil  war. 
The  attempt  to  avert  the  impending  conflict  met  with  but  little  favor. 
And  yet  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  other  course  could  long  have 
postponed  the  collision  which  followed. 

During  the  war,  Mr.  Doolittle  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  the  Union 
cause,  and  labored  in  the  Senate,  and  before  the  people,  to  accomplish 
its  triumph.  After  the  overthrow  of  the  Rebellion,  he  favored  a  policy 
of  magnanimity  towards  the  South,  and  sought  to  lessen  the  bitterness 
existing  between  the  two  sections,  and  allay  the  angry  passions  which 
the  war  had  aroused.  His  voice  has  been  heard  pleading  in  eloquent 
tones  for  mercy  to  the  vanquished,  and  pointing  out  the  evils,  present 
and  future,  of  continuing  the  animosities  of  civil  strife.  Although 
much  censured  for  this  course,  deserted  by  many  of  his  best  friends, 
and  charged  with  ignoble  motives,  he  has  held  his  course  without 
faltering,  feeling  that  it  was  his  duty,  and  trusting  in  the  returning 
reason  of  his  fellow-countrymen,  at  a  future  day,  for  his  vindication. 
The  advocates  of  leniency  and  magnanimity  always  are  commended 
when  the  wild  storm  of  passion  has  abated,  and  the  clear  light  of 
reason  breaks  through  the  vanishing  clouds. 

As  a  member  of  the  High  Court  of  Impeachment,  Mr.  Doolittlo 
58 


JAMES    R.    DOOLITTLE.  5 

voted  to  acquit  the  President.  During  the  consultation  of  the  Sen- 
ate, before  the  rendition  of  the  verdict,  he  delivered  an  oral  "  opin- 
ion" on  the  case,  of  which  the  following  is  the  closing  paragraph : 

"  Sir,  much  may  be  forgiven,  much  must  be  forgiven  in  times  of 
high  party  excitement,  for  the  judicial  blindness  which  it  begets. 
But  when  this  temporary  and  frenzied  excitement  shall  have  passed 
away,  as  pass  it  will,  and  when  men  shall  carefully  review  this'  case 
and  all  the  evidence  given  on  this  trial,  their  surprise  will  be,  not 
that  a  few  Republican  Senators  can  rise  above  party  prejudice  and 
refuse  to  be  driven  from  their  clear  convictions  by  party  furor,  but 
their  utter  astonishment  will  be,  that  any  respectable  Senator  should 
ever  for  one  moment  have  entertained  the  thought  of  convicting  the . 
President  of  the  United  States  of  a  high  crime  or  a  misdemeanor 
upon  the  charges  and  evidence  produced  upon  this  trial." 

As  a  public  man,  Mr.  Doolittle  is  a  statesman  rather  than  a  par- 
tisan. He  has  never  felt  himself  bound  to  support  party  measures 
when  he  regarded  them  as  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  the  nation. 
Thoroughly  a  man  of  principle,  in  his  daily  life  he  conforms  strictly 
to  his  convictions  of  duty.  At  times  he  seems  to  hesitate,  but  it  is  only 
for  a  moment.  When  convinced  that  a  certain  course  is  right,  he 
assumes  it  without  fear  of  consequences,  and  urges  it  with  untiring 
zeal  and  unvarying  consistency. 

In  a  recent  speech,  delivered  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Howe,  of  Wiscon- 
sin, bore  honorable  testimony  to  Mr.  Doolittle's  integrity  of  charac- 
ter. "  My  colleague,"  sa'id  he,  "  has  been  a  citizen  of  the  State  of 
Wisconsin  since  sometime  about  1850  or  1851.  He  was  for  many 
years  a  leading  lawyer  in  that  State,  very  widely  known  to  the  pro- 
fession, enjoying  a  very  large  practice.  He  was  four  or  five  years  a 
Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  in  that  State,  before  he  came  to  the  Sen- 
ate. I  knew  him  for  almost  the  whole  time  very  well,  personally  and 
by  reputation,  and  I  have  great  personal  satisfaction  in  saying  here^ 
and  I  think  it  is  due  to  the  State  that  I  should  say  it,  that  in  all  that 
time  I  never  heard  the  slightest  imputation  cast  upon  him,  either  for 
the  conduct  of  business  in  the  Courts  over  which  he  presided,  or  for 

59 


6  JAMES    R.    DOOLITTLE. 

the  relations  existing  between  him  and  his  clients — never  a  whisper 
which  could  excite  in  the  mind  of  any  one  a  suspicion  of  Iris  venality 
or  corruption." 

As  an  orator,  Mr.  Doolittle  has  a  high  reputation,  which  is  well 
deserved.  His  speeches  possess  much  argumentative  force,  graceful 
imagery,  and  frequent  eloquence.  His  manner  is  earnest  and  digni- 
fied, his  utterance  is  deliberate  and  distinct,  without  apparent  effort. 

Public  men  are  praised  more  for  their  eloquence,  wit,  intellectual 
strength,  and  engaging  manners,  than  for  purity  of  character.  But 
in  forming  a  correct  estimate  of  the  character  of  a  public  man,  pri- 
vate virtues,  no  less  than  public,  should  be  taken  into  consideration. 
In  this  respect,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  will  bear  close  scrutiny.  In 
early  manhood,  he  embraced  the  teachings  of  Christianity,  and  has 
lived  a  consistent,  religious  life.  He  is  free  from  intemperance,  and 
all  its  kindred  vices. 

60 


HON. AARON  H.CRAGIN. 

SKMATOR  FROM  NEW  HAMPSHIRE 


AAKCOT   H. 


AEON  H.  CEAGIN  was  born  in  Weston,  Vermont,  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1821.  He  is  of  Scotch  descent,  one  of  his  an- 
cestors being  John  Cragin,  who  was  among  the  prisoners 
taken  by  Cromwell  at  the  great  battle  of  Dunbar,  September  3, 1650, 
and  banished  to  America. 

Aaron  worked  at  farming  and  in  a  woolen  mill  until  he  became  of  • 
age.  His  education  was  principally  acquired  at  "  43urr  Seminary," 
Manchester,  Yermont,  and  at  the  "Lebanon  Liberal  Institute,"  at 
Lebanon,  X.  H.  Having  finished  his  studies  at  the  academy,  he  re- 
turned to  his  native  town  of  Weston,  and  entered  at  once  upon  the 
study  of  law.  He  afterwards  spent  two  years  in  law  studies  at 
Albany,  New  York,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  'New  York  City, 
in  the  fall  of  1847.  The  same  year  he  moved  to  Lebanon,  N.  IL,  and 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

In  1848,  Mr.  Cragin  took  an  active  part  in  the  canvass  for  Gen. 
Taylor,  and  was  an  associate  editor  of  the  Granite  State  Whig,  pub- 
lished at  Lebanon.  In  1852,  he  was  on  the  electoral  ticket  for  Scott 
and  Graham,  and  made  numerous  speeches  in  behalf  of  those  candi- 
dates. In  the  years  of  1852, 1853,  1854,  and  1859,  he  was  a  member 
of  the  New  Hampshire  legislature.  He  was  elected  to  the  Thirty- 
fourth  Congress,  a  representative  from  the  Third  Congressional  Dis- 
trict of  New  Hampshire,  by  a  majority  of  3,000 ;  although  this  Dis- 
trict, before  that  time,  had  been  strongly  Democratic.  He  was 
re-elected  in  1857,  and  served  through  the  ThirtyTfifth  Congress. 

Mr.  Cragin  was  a  delegate  at  large  from-  New  Hampshire  to  the 
Eepublican  Convention  at  Chicago,  in  1860,  and  voted  first  and  last 

61 


2  AARON    H.    CRAGIN. 

for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  supported  liim  upon  the  stump  in  every 
county  in  New  Hampshire. 

In  June,  1864,  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  for  the 
full  term  of  six  years,  as  the  successor  of  John  P.  Hale. 

Mr.  Cragin  is  a  staunch  and  able  advocate  of  the  measures  enacted 
by  Congress  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  Southern  States. 

On  the  30th  of  January,- 1868,  he  delivered  an  address  in  the  Sen- 
ate, in  which  he  presented  an  able  review  of  the  Reconstruction  acts, 
and  the  usurpation  of  Andrew  Johnson.  The  speech  closes  with  the 
following  eloquent  passage : 

"  The  Republican  party,  sir,  is  the  people's  party.  It  is  the  hope  of 
the  country  and  the  anchor  of  its  freedom.  It  is  the  representative 
of  the  true  democratic  sentiment  of  the  country.  It  bears  aloft  the 
banner  of  liberty,  and  pleads  for  those  rights  of  human  nature  which 
God  has  given  to  man.  It  swears  by  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, and  acknowledges  the  manhood  of  the  whole  human  race.  It 
teaches  the  great  Christian  democratic  doctrine  that  '  all  things 
whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  dp  ye  even  so  untc 
them.'  It  knows  no  baseness,  cowers  at  no  danger,  oppresses  no 
weakness.  Generous  and  humane,  it  rebukes  the  arrogant,  cherishes 
honor,  and  sympathizes  with  the  humble.  It  asks  nothing  but  what 
it  concedes,  and  concedes  nothing  but  what  it  demands.  Destructive 
only  to  despotism  and  treason,  it  is  the  sole  conservator  of 
liberty,  labor,  and  property.  It  cherishes  the  sentiment  of  universal 
freedom,  of  equal  rights,  and  'equal  obligations.  It  sides  with 
the  weak  and  the  down-trodden,  and  sympathizes  with  every 
effort  to  elevate  the  people  and  better  their  condition.  A  true 
Republican,  while  claiming  an  equality  with  the  best,  scorns  any  po- 
litical immunities  not  accorded  to  the  humblest  of  his  fellows.  The 
ark  of  our  national  salvation  rests  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  men  com- 
posing this  party.  I  pray  that  they  may  be  patient  and  strong,  bold 
and  prudent,  patriotic  and  ju?t,  devout  and  self-sacrificing,  and  res- 
olute and  mighty,  that  we  may  transmit  to  uncounted  millions  and 
unborn  generations  the  blessings  of  free,  democratic  government." 


J. 


HON.WAITMAN   T  WILLEY. 

SENATOR  FR.GM  WKST  V;  KGIMIA 


WAITMAJN"    T.    WILLEY. 


rAITMAN  T.  WILLET  was  born  in  the  county  of  Mqn- 
galia,  Yirginia,  October  18,  1811.  His  birthplace  was  a 
"  log  cabiu,  just  twenty  feet  square." 

As  soon  as  the  little  boy  could  well  walk,  he  was  put  to  work  upon  the 
farm  until  he  was  twelve  years  old — receiving,  meanwhile,  eight  or 
ten  months  of  schooling  in  a  country  school-heuse.  From  twelve  to 
sixteen  years  of  age — with  the  exception  of  tuition  at  a  grammar 
school  for  two  months — he  continued  at  hard  work  upon  his  father's 
farm,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  went  to  Madison  College.  He  was 
distinguished  in  college  by  industry  as  a  student,  and  success  as  a 
scholar,  and  at  the  end  of  his  four  years'  course  was  graduated  with 
the  highest  honors  of  his  class,  and  was  pronounced  by  the  trustees 
of  the  institution  as  "  well  entitled  to  that  honor." 

In  the  following  year,-  Mr.  Willey — being  yet  under  twenty-one 
years  of  age — commenced  the  study  of  law  at  Wellsbury,  Yirginia. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1833.  As  a  lawyer  he  was  successful, 
and  soon  secured  a  good  and  reputable  practice.  In  1840,  he  was  a 
candidate  for  the  State  legislature.  He  was  also  on  the  Whig  electo- 
ral ticket,  and  made  forty  speeches  in  behalf  of  his  candidate.  In 
1841,  in  one  and  the  same  month,  he  was  made  Clerk  of  Mongalia 
County  Court  and  of  the  Supreme  Court.  In  1850,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  Convention  for  re-forming  the  constitution  of 
Yirginia.  In  this  Convention,  Mr.  Willey  sustained  a  very  prom- 
inent part.  His  speeches,  which  were  somewhat  numerous,  were 
of  decided  ability,  and  were  highly  complimented,  even  by  those 
whose  views  differed  from  his  own.  "He  is,"  writes  one  of  these, 
"a  man  of  fine  attainments,  extensive  reading,  and  high  moral 

63 


2  WAITMAN    T.    WILLET. 

character;  a  bold  thinker,  an  energetic  and  earnest  speaker." 
His  speech  in  this  Convention,  in  favor  of  representation  based 
upon  suffrage,  was  deemed  the  best  that  was  delivered  on 
that  side  of  this  important  question.  In  concluding  this  great 
speech,  having  alluded  in  glowing  terms  to  the  progress  of  popular 
liberty  in  the  world,  he  adds  this  noble  peroration : 

"  And  yet,  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  beneath  the  noontide  effulgence  of  this  great  principle  of 
popular  supremacy,  a  voice  is  heard  in  old  Virginia,  rising  from  al- 
most the  spot  where  the  clarion  voice  of  Henry  awoke  a  nation  to 
freedom,  when  lie  exclaimed,  *  Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death  '- 
even  here,  where  we  should  take  off  our  shoes,  for  the  earth  on  which 
we  walk  is  holy — bearing  in  its  consecrated  bosom  the  remains  of 
George  Mason  and  Thomas  Jefferson,  the  one  the  author  of  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  the  other  of  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights — 
even  here,  a  demand  is  made  by  honorable  gentlemen  to  give  superior 
political  power  to  the  property-holder,  and -virtually  invest  goods  and 
chattels  with  the  prerogative  of  legislating  upon  ^he  rights  and  liber- 
ties of  a  vast  majority  of  the  people  of  this  Commonwealth !  I  trust 
this  can  never  take  place." 

In  1852,  Mr.  Willey  was  a  Whig  candidate  for  Congress,  with  no 
expectation  of  election,  but  to  bring  out  a  full  Whig  vote  for  General 
Scott. 

At  the  State  Convention  of  the  Whig  party,  February  10,  1858, 
Mr.  Willey  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  Lieutenant-Governor. 
Alluding  to  this  nomination,  the  Richmond  Whig  represented  Mr. 
Willey  as  "one  of  the  ablest  and  most  eloquent  men  in  Virginia/' 
and  "universally  esteemed  and  popular."  The  Baltimore  Patriot 
added :  "  A  stronger  name  has  never  been  presented  to  the  freemen 
of  Virginia.  The  name  of  Waitman  T.  Willey  is  a  household  word 
throughout  the  entire  Northwest.  A  distinguished  lawyer,  with  a  rep- 
utation without  a  stain,  his  name  upon  the  ticket  secures  at  least 
five  thousand  votes  that  might  have  been  considered  doubtful." 

In  the  canvass,  Mr.  Willey  addressed  the  people  daily  until  the 

64 


WAITMAN    T.    WILLEY.  3 

election,  and  was  everywhere  acknowledged  as  a  statesman,  a  patriot, 
an  honest  man,  and  an  exemplary  Christian.  In  the  election  he 
carried  his  own  county,  although  his  ticket  ran  behind. 

In  1860,  Mr.  Willey,  as  might  be  expected,  was  exerting  himself 
continually  for  the  Union,  and  to  strengthen  the  union  sentiment  of 
the  State.  In  January,  he  published  a -long  article  for  distribution 
on  the  general  subject  of  disunion  and  secession.  "  Why,  therefore," 
he  writes,  "  should  we  madly  rush  into  the  perils  of  disunion  ?  Our 
country  was  never  more  thrifty  and  prosperous,  and  what  but  the  na- 
tional Union  secured  to  us  all  this  happiness  and  prosperity  ?  I  shud- 
der whenever  I  think  of  disunion.  It  does  appear  to  me  that  some 
of  our  leaders,  like  the  incendiary  Erostratus,  are  aspiring  after  the 
infamous  immortality  which  must  eternally  be  attached  to  the  names 
of  the  destroyers  of  the  fairest  fabric  of  national  government  ever 
devised  by  man,  or  bestowed  on  him  by  heaven." 

In  the  winter  of  1860-61,  Mr.  "Willey  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the 
Richmond  Convention,  which  resulted  in  the  secession  of  Virginia. 
Referring  to  ±his  Convention,  he  writes :  "  If  the  journal  and  pro- 
ceedings of  that  body  ever  come  to  light,  they  will  show  how  faith- 
fully I  resisted  that  terrible  disaster." 

In  July,  1861,  he  was  elected  by  the  reorganized  legislature  of 
Virginia,  sitting  at  Wheeling,  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and  took 
his  seat  in  that  body  during  the  special  session  of  Congress  then  in 
progress.  Also,  in  the  fall  of  this  year,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  assembled  at  Wheeling,  to  ordain  a  con- 
stitution for  the  proposed  new  State  of  West  Virginia. 

The  attitude  of  Mr.  Willey  in  the  United  States  Senate,  at  this 
most  trying  crisis,  was  eminently  just,  enlightened,  and  patriotic,  and 
worthy  of  Virginia  in  its  wiser  and  better  days. 

"We  may,  with  equal  confidence,"  said  he,  "challenge  a  more 
minute  examination  of  the  policy  and  administration  of  the  General 
Government  affecting  the  States  in  rebellion.  And  here  I  do  but 
allege  what  the  records  of  the  country  will  amply  attest,  when  I  say 
that  in  the  bestowment  of  official  patronage  and  emolument  and  posi- 

65 


4  WAITMAN    T.    WILLEY. 

tion  in  every  branch  of  the  Government,  the  South  has  ever  enjoyed 
an  eminently  liberal  proportion  of  favor.  The  journals  and  acts  of 
Congress  will  verify  the  assertion  that  every  important  measure  of 
national  policy  has  either  originated  with  Southern  statesmen,  or  has 
been  made,  sooner  or  later,  essentially  to  conform  to  the  demands  of 
Southern  sentiment.  This  is  a  broad  assertion,  but  it  is  true.  The 
South  has  always  exercised  a  controlling  influence  in  the  councils  of 
the  Republic.  She  has  had  more  than  an  equal  share  of  Presidents  ; 
she  has  had  more  than  a  fair  proportion  of  appointments  in  the  Cab- 
inet ;  the  Supreme  Court  has  been  adorned  with  a  full  quota  of  her 
eminent  jurists;  the  corps  diplomatique  has  had  no  just  cause  of 
complaint  for  the  want  of  representatives  from  south  of  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line ;  and  the  glorious  annals  of  our  army  and  navy  attest 
on  every  page  the  valor  and  skill  of  Southern  chieftains." 

After  unfolding  the  Southern  conspiracy,  he  said :  "  Sir,  truth  will 
ere  long  strip  these  conspirators  naked  before  the  world,  and  the 
people  whom  they 'have  so  cruelly  misled  will  rise  up  and  curse  them. 
History — impartial  history — will  arraign  and  condemn  them  to  uni- 
versal contempt.  It  will  hold  them  responsible  before  man  and  God 
for  the  direful  consequences  already  brought  upon  the  country,  and 
for  the  evils  yet  to  come— for  the  desolations  of  war,  its  pillage  and 
rapine,  and  blood,  and  carnage,  and  crime,  and  widowhood,  and 
orphanage,  and  all  its  sorrows  and  disasters." 

Mr.  Willey,  then  and  always,  insisted  upon  the  impossibility  of 
dismemberment.  "  Sir,"  said  he,  "  this  Union  cannot  be  dissolved. 
Nature  and  providence  forbid  it.  Our  rivers,  and  lakes,  mountains, 
and  the  whole  geographical  conformation  of  the  country  rebuke  the 
treason  that  would  sever  them.  Our  diversities  of  climate  and  soil 
and  staple  production  do  but  make  each  section  necessary  to  the  other. 
Science  and  art  have  annihilated  distance,  and  brought  the  whole 
family  of  States  into  close  propinquity  and  constant  and  easy  inter- 
course. We  are  one  people  in  language,  in  law,  in  religion,  and 
destiny.  '  Whom  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put  asunder.' 
The  past  is  glorious ;  the  future  shall  be  sublime." 


WAITMAN    T.    WILLEY.  5 

Mr.  Willey,  at  the  same  session  of  the  Senate,  in  an  able  and  ap- 
propriate speech,  gave  a  full  and  minute  history  of  the  new  State 
matter,  on  the  application  of  West  Virginia  for  admission  into  the 
Union  as  a  State.  He  met  every  objection,  satisfied  every  reasonable 
doubt,  and  secured  an  early,  favorable,  and  unanimous  report  from 
the  committee,  its  triumphant  and  speedy  passage  through  the  Sen- 
ate, and  eventually  through  the  House,  until  it  received  the  sanction 
of  the  President. 

The  new  State  having  been  admitted,  Mr.  "Willey  in  August,  1863, 
was  elected  one  of  the  United  States  Senators  from  West  Virginia. 
He  drew  the  short  term  of  two  years,  before  the  expiration  of  which 
he  was  re-elected  for  the  term  ending  in  18Y1. 

Thus  far  we  have  contemplated  Mr.  Willey  in  scarcely  more  than  a 
single  phase  of  his  character,  while  to  pause  here  would  leave  this 
sketch  but  half  completed.  ISTot  only  has  he  sustained  an  eminent 
reputation  as  a  lawyer  and  statesman,  but  he  has  all  along  stood  be- 
fore the  public  as  a  Christian  and  a  philanthropist.  The  very  begin- 
ning of  his  professional  life  demonstrates  the  transparent  integrity  of 
his  character.  At  thirty  years  of  age,  he  writes  : 

"  I  was  poor  when  I  started  ;  I  am  comparatively  poor  still.  I  was 
honest  when  I  started,  and,  thank  God,  I  am  honest  still.  I  would 
not  give  the  consciousness  of  honesty  and  integrity  for  all  the  honors 
of  ill-gotten  gain."  Elsewhere  he  adds,  on  occasion  of  somewhat 
straitened  circumstances :  "  Poverty  is  far  more  desirable  than  ill- 
gotten  wealth.  I  will  live  honest,  if  I  die  poor.  I  will  live  an  hon- 
orable man,  if  I  die  in  obscurity.  -I  would  not  exchange  the  appro- 
bation of  a  good  conscience  for  the  hoards  of  Croesus.  I  would  not 
relinquish  the  pleasure  and  exalted  happiness  of  conscious  integrity 
for  the  crown  of  an  emperor." 

Mr.  Willey  is  an  active  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  his 
church  connection  seems  early  to  have  been  with  him  a  matter  of 
gratulation  and  thanksgiving ;  while  his  religious  experience,  so  far  as 
it  has.  been  apparent  to  the  eye  of  strangers,  bears  the  marks  of 
deep  sincerity  and  genuineness.  In  1853,  we  find  him  delivering  a 

67 


G  WAITMAN    T.    WILLEY. 

series  of  lectures  on  the  "  Spirit  and  Progress  "  of  that  branch  of  the 
church  of  which  he  is  a  member ;  wherein,  among  other  things,  he 
discusses  the  importance  of  an  earnest  faith  in  connection  with  the 
performance  of  Christian  duty.  Alluding  to  these  lectures,  the  pub- 
lic prints  alleged,  and  doubtless  with  much  truth,  that  "  he  would  fill 
a  pulpit  with  no  ordinary  ability." 

The  cause  of  Temperance  has  ever  held  a  warm  place  in  the  affec- 
tions of  Mr.  Willey.  He  was  early  a  member  of  various  associations, 
here  and  there,  for  the  promotion  of  this  great  enterprise.  In  1853, 
he  was,  by  the  Grand  Division  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance  of  West 
Virginia,  elected  their  lecturer  on  "  Temperance  and  Legal  Prohibi- 
tion." 

We  find  him  also  deeply  interested  in  Sabbath-schools,  and  he  is 
himself  a  Sabbath-school  teacher.  So  likewise  has  the  great  mis- 
sionary enterprise  always  enlisted  his  sympathies,  commended  itself  to 
his  judgment,  and  called  forth  his  eloquence.  Thus,  he  is  not  one  of 
those  lights  that  are  hid  under  a  bushel.  At  Washington,  Mr.  Willey 
has  preserved  his  consistency.  He  has  been  here  the  friend  of  tem- 
perance, missions,  the  Sabbath-school,  and  every  good  work.  The 
National  Intelligencer  says  of  him :  "  He  devotes  his 'hours  of  leis* 
ure  from  legislative  duties  in  furtherance  of  good  objects  here.  His 
late  speech  at  the  Foundry  Church  on  Sunday  afternoon  on  Sunday- 
schools,  will  not  soon  fade  from  the  mind  of  any  one  present  on  the 
occasion." 

More  effective  still  seems  to .  have  been  an  address,  delivered  at 
Philadelphia,  on  a  missionary  occasion,  when,  in  the  course  of  his 
speech,  he  read  various  extracts  from  the  highest  authorities,  illustrat- 
ing the  elevating  power  of  the  Gospel  upon  heathen  nations.  He  fur- 
ther insisted  that  it  was  the  best  civilizing  agency  that  was  ever  em- 
ployed— that  Magna  Charta  was  not  found  at  Runny mede,  nor  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  at  Philadelphia ;  but  that  both  of  these 
immortal  documents  were  traceable  to  the  Bible.  • 

68 


*    •'/ 


HON  S  C    POMERGY 
S  F.NAT'  •!-.  FPuM  KANSAS 


SAMUEL    O.    POMEEOT. 


•  AMUEL  C.  POMEEOY  was  born  in  South  Hampton,  Massa- 
chusetts, January  3,  1816,  and  his  boyhood  was  spent  upon 
his  father's  farm.  In  1836,  he  entered  Amherst  College ;  but 
at  the  end  of  two  years,  leaving  college,  he  went  to  reside  in  Monroe 
County,  New  York,  where  he  continued  about  four  years.  He  then 
returned  to  his  native  town  of  South  Hampton. 

In  1840,  during  the  time  of  his  residence  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  he  heard  that  remarkable  man,  Alvan  Stewart,  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  was  deeply  impressed  with  his  eloquence,  became  a  ready 
convert  to  anti-slavery  principles,  and  began  at  once  to  labor  zealously 
to  promote  them. 

His  first  effort  seemed  rather  discouraging.  Proposing  to  organize 
a  county  liberty  party,  he  issued  a  call  for  a  meeting  to  be  held 
at  the  county  seat.  On  arriving  at  the  place  of  meeting  on  the  day 
appointed,  after  a  ride  of  twenty  miles  in  his  own  wagon,  he  found 
an  audience  of  just  two  persons  beside  himself.  After  waiting  an  hour 
for  other  arrivals,  and  waiting  in  vain,  nothing  daunted,  he  called  the 
meeting  to  order,  one  of  the  audience  taking  the  chair,  and  the  other 
acting  as  secretary.  Mr.  Pomeroy  then  delivered  his  speech,  after 
which  resolutions  were  presented  and  adopted,  and  a  county  ticket 
formed,  which  received  at  the  election  eleven  votes  in  a  population  of 
twenty  thousand.  In  six  years  afterwards,  however,  the  liberty  party 
ticket  of  this  same  county  carried  the  election. 

Returning  to  South  Hampton,  as  we  have  seen,  in  1842,  Mr.  Pome- 
roy, by  his  zealous  efforts,  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  constantly  in- 
creasing members  added  to  the  new  party.  He  lectured  in  school- 

69 


2  SAMUEL    C.    POMEROY 

houses — preached  from  house,  to  house — met  objections— answered  ar- 
guments— softened  down  prejudices,  and  made  converts  everywhere. 
Year  by  year  the  work  prospered,  and  though  slow,  it  was  sure ;  for 
victory,  at  last,  crowned  his  efforts.  Annually,  for  eight  years,  he 
was  on  the  anti-slavery  ticket  for  the  Massachusetts  legislature,  but 
was  unsuccessful  until  1852,  when  he  was  elected  over  both  Whigs 
and  Democrats.  His  characteristic  anti-slavery  zeal  he  boldly  carried 
with  him  into  the  legislature.  On  the  occasion  of  the  rendition  of  the 
slave  Burns  to  his  assumed  owner,  he  gave  utterence  to  the  following 
burst  of  eloquence : 

"  Sir,"  said  he,  addressing  the  Speaker,  "  when  you  have  another 
man  to  enslave,  do  it  as  you  did  before,  in  the  gray  of  the  early  morn- 
ing. Don't  let  in  the  light  of  the  brighter  day  upon  the  scene,  for  the 
sun  would  blush,  if  you  did  not,  and  turn  his  face  away  to  weep. 
What !  return  a  man  to  hopeless  slavery  !  to  a  condition  darker  than 
death,  and  more  damning  than  perdition  !  Death  and  the  grave  are 
not  without  their  hope  ;  light  from  the  hill-tops  of  immortality  cross 
the  darkness  and  bid  the  sleepers  awake,  and  live,  and  hope ;  and 
perdition  with  its  unyielding  grasp  has  no  claims  upon  a  man's  poster- 
ity. But  remorseless  slavery  swallows  up  not  the  man  alone,  but  hia 
hapless  offspring  through  unending  generations,  for  ever  and  for  ever- 
more !  " 

About  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  in  1854, 
Mr.  Pomeroy  was  in  Washington,  and  his  call  upon  President  Pierce 
happened  to  be  at  the  very  hour  of  his  signing  it.  It  is  said,  in  fact, 
that  the  ink  was  not  .yet  dry  upon  the  parchment  when  Mr.  Pomeroy 
addressed  the  President  in  these  prophetic  words : 

"  Sir,  this  measure  which  has  passed  is  not  the  triumph  you  sup- 
pose. It  does  not  end,  but  only  commences  hostilities.  Slavery  is 
victorious  in  Congress,  but  it  has  not  yet  triumphed  among  the  peo- 
ple. Tour  victory  is  but  an  adjournment  of  the  question  from  the 
halls  of  legislation  at  Washington  to  the  open  prairies  of  the  freedom- 
loving  West ;  and  there,  Sir,  we  shall  beat  you,  depend  upon  it !  " 

The  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act  at  once  "  fired  the  heart " 

70 


SAMUEL    C.    POMEROY.  3 

of  the  North.  "  Emigration  to  Kansas  !  "  became  a  sort  of  watchword 
far  and  near.  Freedom-loving  men  and  women  everywhere  realized, 
for  the  first  time,  how  much  they  were  individually  capable  of  doing. 
Organized  emigration  was  at  once  initiated  by  the  genius  of  Eli  Thayer, 
who,  under  a  charter  obtained  from  the  Massachusetts  legislature,  or- 
ganized the  "  New  England  Emigrant  Aid  Company."  In  this  enter- 
prise, Mr.  Thayer  was  ably  seconded  by  Mr.  Pomeroy,  who  discerned 
at  a  glance  the  value  and  practical  nature  of  the  idea.  Of  this  company 
he  immediately  became  the  financial  and  general  agent,  taking  an 
active  part  in  procuring  and  distributing  all  necessary  information 
relating  to  the  history,  soil,  climate,  distance,  etc.,  of  Kansas,  together 
with  rents,  time  of  passage,  and  expense  for  reaching  there.  More- 
over, he  lectured  extensively,  and  by  word  and  deed  stimulated  all 
who  could  make  the  sacrifice  to  emigrate  to  Kansas,  and  offered  him- 
self to  be  their  Moses  to  conduct  them  to  the  promised  land. 

It  was  on  the  27th  of  August,  1854,  that  the  first  band  of  emi- 
grants, under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Pomeroy,  and  numbering  two 
hundred,  started  from  Boston  for  the  far  West.  At  various  points  on 
their  way,  they  received  the  greetings  and  sympathies  of  warm- 
hearted and  earnest  men  and  women,  like  themselves,  who  bade  them 
God-speed  with  many  prayers,  tears,  and  benedictions.  On  the  6th 
of  September  they  came  to  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  on  the  borders  of 
the  great  land  whither  they  were  destined ;  and  passing  up  the  Kan- 
sas River,  they  pitched  their  tents  at  the  end  of  three  days'  journey, 
and  gave  the  name  of  Lawrence  to  the  place  of  their  sojourn.  An- 
other colony  soon  followed,  whom  Mr.  Pomeroy  met  at  St.  Louis,  and 
conducted  them  forward ;  and  in  November  another  still  came  on, 
and  were  likewise  met  and  guided  by  him  into  the  Territory. 
Meanwhile,  Gov.  Keed  and  other  appointed  officials  came  on  to  ad- 
minister the  government  of  the  new  Territory,  and,  in  behalf  of  the 
emigrants,  were  welcomed  by  Mr.  Pomeroy  in  such  words  as  these  : 

"  We  welcome  you  to  these  rude  homes  of  ours  in  the  wilderness, 
which  we  have  journeyed*  many  weary  miles  to  make,  not  because  we 
look  for  better  or  for  happier  ones  than  we  have  left  behind,  but  be- 

71 


4  SAMUEL  C.  POMEROY. 

cause  we  intend,  in  good  faith,  to  meet  the  issues  of  the  hour.  In 
the  spirit  of  the  act  which  reclaims  these  territories  from  savage 
haunts,  and  organizes  them  into  homes  for  civilized  men,  we  came  to  do 
our  share  in  the  work  necessary  to  accomplish  it.  In  pursuance  of 
this  object,  and  in  imitation  of  those  who  sought  liberty  with  the 
Mayflower,  we  came  bringing  with  us,  as  they  did  with  them,  the 
institutions  of  our  faith  and  our  freedom — our  churches  and  our 
schools.  With  the  Bible  in  one  hand,  and  the  school-book  in  the 
other,  we  propose  to  make  this  '  wilderness  to  bud  and  blossom  as  the 
rose.'  This  Bible  we  lay  upon  the  altar  of  a  free  church — this  primer 
upon  the  desk  of  a  free  school,  and  may  the  God  of  our  Pilgrim 
Fathers  aid  us  in  the  work !  " 

The  limits  of  this  sketch  do  not  permit  us  to  tell  of  the  inroads  of 
Southern  banditti  that  followed  this  emigration — of  their  guns,  bowie- 
knives,  and  whiskey-^f  how  slavery  sought  eagerly  to  gain  posses- 
sion of  the  fair  land  of  Kansas — how,  for  this  purpose,  and  under  the 
auspices  of  a  weak  and  wicked  administration  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment, it  promptly  introduced  its  hideous  machinery  of  outrages,  mur- 
ders, house-breakings,  and  robberies. 

Amid  the  disturbance  and  violence  of  this  stormy  year  of  1856, 
Mr.  Pomeroy  was  called  upon  to  prove  his  fidelity  to  truth,  and  his 
courage  in  maintaining  principle.  Beaten,  arrested,  and  twice  im- 
prisoned, threatened  with  death,  and  sentenced  by  a  mob  to  be  hung, 
he  still  escaped  to  complete  the  work  yet  remaining  to  be  done.  We 
find  him  in  Washington  conferring  with  the  prospective  Governor  of 
Kansas — lecturing  in  various  places  in  the  East  in  its  behalf — rallying 
and  shipping  Sharpe's  rifles — forwarding  ammunition,  and  thus  vari- 
ously preparing  for  the  worst.  But  peace  came  soon,  arid  1857 
opened  auspiciously  for  the  new  Territory. 

Thus  far  the  career  of  Mr.  Pomeroy  had  been  that  of  a  philan- 
thropist. His  political  career  now  commences,  and  it  commences 
with  his  righteous  opposition  to  the  infamous  "Lecomptoii  Constitu- 
tion." Against  this  he  fought  day  and  ni^it,  and  By  addresses  and 
public  lectures,  not  only  throughout  Kansas,  but  the  Northern  States, 

72 


SAMUEL    C.    POMEKOY.  5 

until  in  1858  Congress  sent  the  swindle  to  the  "tomb- of  the  Capu- 
lets." 

Along  tliis  period  we  have  Mr.  Pomeroy  as  Mayor  of  Atchison — 
as  establishing  the  first  free  school  of  that  town — building  with  his 
own  private  means  a  brick  church,  and  presenting  it  to  the  Congre- 
gationalists — and  entering  heartily  into  plans  for  the  relief  of  Kansas 
amid  the  terrible  drought  and  famine  of  1860. 

It  was  in  connection  with  this  last-named  effort  that  the  noble  dis- 
interestedness of  Mr.  Pomeroy's  character  shone  forth  as  conspicuously 
as  in  any  other  of  his  labors  and  sacrifices.  Said  he,  at  this  time,  to 
an  intimate  friend :  "  You  know  I  intend  to  be  a  candidate  for  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  if  I  go  into  this  relief  business,  it  is  cer- 
tain to  kill  me  ;  for  every  dollar  that  passes  through  my  hands  is  sure 
to  make  an  enemy  of  somebody.  Some  who  don't  need,  will  grum- 
ble because  I  refuse  them ;  others  wljo  are  helped,  will  be  dissatisfied 
because  I  do  not  give  them  more ;  and  my  political  enemies  will 
make  every  mistake  tell  against  me,  whether  it  be  mine  or  the  fault 
of  somebody  else.  They  will  lie  about  me  in  every  way  they  can, 
and  the  result  of  the  whole  business  will  be,  so  far  as  the  United 
States  Senatorship  is  concerned,  that  I  shall  be  killed  as  dead  as  Jul- 
ius Caesar.  But  still,  if  this  people  are  in  danger  of  suffering  again, 
I  mean  to  go  in  and  help  them  anyhow,  and  let  my  political  prospects 
go,  and  trust  to  God  for  the  result ;  "  and  Mr.  Pomeroy  proved  by  the 
result  of  his  confidence,  that  "  Blessed  are  all  they  that  put  their 
trust  in  him."  Accordingly,  after  aiding  most  efficiently  in  minis- 
tering the  ample  relief  that  flowed  into  Kansas  from  ten  thousand 
benevolent  hands,  so  well  satisfied  with  him  were  the  people,  that 
they  placed  him,  forthwith,  in  the  United  States  Senate,  where  he 
took  his  seat  at  the  extra  session,  which  met  July  4=,.  1861.  In  1867 
Mr.  Pomeroy  was  re-elected  for  the  Senatorial  term  ending  1873. 

It  seems  quite  unnecessary  to  write  that  Mr.  Pomeroy's  entire 
career  in  the  Senate  has  been  what  might  be  expected  from  the  ante- 
cedents of  the  man.  The  very  first  measure  introduced  by  him  was 

precisely  characteristic,  and  was  a  "  BiU  to  suppress  the  Slaveholders' 

73 


6  SAMUEL    C.    POMEROY. 

Rebellion."  The  very  wording  of  the  title  evinces  the -intention  of 
the  author,  which  was  to  place  the  Rebellion  directly  at  the  door  of 
the  guilty  party.  His  entire  Congressional  record,  we  believe,  has 
been  correspondent — all  his  speeches  and  votes  have  been  eminently 
patriotic — and  the  true  interests  of  the  country  have  ever  lain  near ' 
his  heart. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  1866,  Mr.  Pomeroy,  advocating  universal 
suffrage  by  Congressional  enactment,  which  he  maintained  was 
"  nothing  less  than  throwing  about  all  men  the  essential  safeguards 
of  the  Constitution,"  used  the  following  language  :  "  Let  us  not  take 
counsel  of  our  fears,  but  of  our  hopes ;  not  of  our  enemies,  but  of  our 
friends.  By  all  the  memories  which  cluster  about  the  pathway  in 
which  we  have  been  led ;  by  all  the  sacrifices,  blood,  and  tears  of  the 
conflict ;  by  all  the  hopes  of  a  freed  country  and  a  disenthralled  race ; 
yea,  as  a  legacy  for  mankind,  let^  us  now  secure  a  free  representative 
republic,  based  upon  impartial  suffrage  and  that  human  equality 
made  clear  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  To  this  entertain- 
ment let  us  invite  our  countrymen  and  all  nations,  committing  our 
work,  when  done,  to  the  verdict  of  posterity  and  the  blessing  of 
Almighty  God." 

One  of  Mr.  Pomeroy's  friends  has  graphically  s,aid  :  "  True  to  prin- 
ciple, true  to  his  convictions,  true  to  his  country,  and  terribly  .true  to 
his  country's  foes,  he  occupies  to-day,  as  Senator  of  the  United  States, 
a  proud  position  among  his  peers — a  position  that  honors  both  re- 
presentative and  the  represented.  As  a  patriot,  he  is  earnest ;  as  a 
statesman,  logical ;  as  a  politician,  consistent ;  and  as  a  man,  genial 
generous,  and  just." 


HON  YTTi-JJAM  P.  FESSENDEN", 

SENATOR  PROM  MAINE- 


WILLIAM   P.   FESSEJTOEN". 


'ILLIAM  PITT  FESSENDEN",  a  son  of  the  Hon.  Sam- 
uel Fessenden,  was  born  in  Boscawen,  !N".  H.,  October  16, 
1806.  Before  he  reached  his  twelfth  year,  he  was  fitted 
for  college  under  the  tutorship  of  a  law  student  in  his  father's  office, 
and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  was  graduated  at  Bowdoin  College,  in 
the  class  of  1823.  He  immediately  commenced  the  study  of  law, 
and  in  1827,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  was  admitted  to  the  Portland 
bar.  He  immediately  opened  an  office  in  Bridgeton,  Me.,  and  in 
1829  removed  to  Portland. 

In  1831,  at  twenty-five  years  of  age,  Mr.  Fessenden  was  elected  to 
the  State  legislature,  of  which  he  was  the  youngest  member.  He 
rose  at  once  to  distinction,  both  as  a  debater  and  a  legislator.  His 
insight  into  the  details  of  political  economy,  for  which,  in  later  years, 
he  became  so  distinguished,  were  thus  early  evinced  in  an  important 
debate  on  the  United  States  Bank,  in  which  the  youthful  orator  dis- 
played remarkable  spirit  and  ability. 

From  1832  to  1839,  Mr.  Fessenden  devoted  himself  exclusively  to 
his  profession,  in  which  he  very  soon  rose  to  the  first  rank,  both  as  a 
counselor  and  an  advocate.  In  1838,  he  was  solicited  to  become  a 
candidate  for  Congress,  but  declined.  In  1839,  he  was  again  chosen 
to  the  State  legislature,  a  representative  from  the  city  of  Portland. 
Although  the  House  was  largely  Democratic,  and  Mr.  Fessenden  was 
a  Whig  always  distinguished  for  an  uncompromising  assertion  of  his 
principles,  nevertheless  he  was  placed  on  the  Judiciary  Committee,  and 
was  made  Chairman  of  the  House  Committee  for  revising  the  Statutes 

of  the  State. 

75 


2  WILLIAM    P.    FESSENDEN. 

Mr.  Fessenden,  in  1840,  was  nominated  by  acclamation  as  the 
Whig  candidate  for  Congress,  and  was  elected  by  a  vote  running  con- 
siderably beyond  the  party  limit.  In  Congress  he  participated  in  the 
current  debates,  and  made  speeches  on  the  Loan  Bill,  Army  Appro- 
priation Bill,  and  against  the  repeal  of  the  Bankrupt  Law.  In 
1843,  he  was  nominated  for  re-election,  but  declined,  from  a  choice 
to  remain  in  the  practice  of  his  profession ;  and,  meantime,  he  re- 
ceived in  the  legislature  of  that  year,  the  votes  of  the  Whig  party 
for  a  vacant  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate.  In  1845,  he  was  again 
elected  to  the  State  legislature,  and  was  also  chosen  in  the  following 
year,  but  declined. 

From  1845  to  1852,  Mr.  Fessenden  was  in  private  life,  devoting 
himself  to  his  profession  with  a  constantly  increasing  practice  and  rep- 
utation. During  this  period  he  was  associated  with  Daniel  Webster 
in  an  important  case  before  the  Supreme  Court  at  Washington,  in- 
volving a  legal  question  never  before  discussed  in  that  court.  The 
question  was  as  to  "  how  far  the  fraudulent  acts  of  an  auctioneer  in  sell- 
ing property  should  affect  the  owner  of  the  property  sold — he  being 
no  party  to  the  fraud  ?  "  In  this  case,  Mr.  Fessenden  had  to  contend 
against  the  weight  and  influence  of  Judge  Story's  opinion  and  de- 
cision, which  were  against  his  client  in  the  court  below.  But  he  was 
successful,  and  Judge  Story's  decision  wais  reversed.  His  argu- 
ment on  that  occasion  was  remarkable  for  its  logical  force  and 
legal  acuteness,  and  was  said  to  have  won  the  highest  admiration  from 
the  most  fastidious  judges. 

Once,  during  this  period  (1850)  of  Mr.  Fessendep's  career,  he  was 
elected  to  Congress,  but  his  seat  was  given  to  his  competitor  through 
an  error  in  the  returns.  Yet  he  declined  to  contest  the  case  before 
Congress,  from  an  unwillingness  to  serve  in  that  body.  This  unwill- 
ingness he  had  decisively  expressed  in  advance  to  the  Conventions  of 
the  Whig  an<J  Free-Soil  parties,  which,  against  his  wishes,  had  insisted 
upon  nominating  him. 

Mr.  Fessenden  was  a  member  of  the  National  Convention  which 

nominated  Gen.  Harrison  for  the  Presidency  in  1840 ;  and  of  the 

76 


WILLIAM    P.    FESSENDEN.  .         3 

National  Convention  which  nominated  Gen.  Taylor  in  1848 ;  and  also 
of  that  which  nominated  Gen.  Scott  in  1852.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Maine  legislature  in  1853,  the  'Senate  of  which  gave  him  a  ma- 
jority vote  for  the  position  of  Senator  in  Congress.  But  the  House, 
being  Democratic,  failed  by  four  votes  to  concur,  and  no  election  was 
effected  at  that  session.  The  same  House,  however,  though  opposed 
to  him  in  politics,  associated  him  with  the  Hon.  Keuel  Williams  in 
negotiating  the  purchase  of  the  large  body  of  wild  lands  of  Massa- 
chusetts, lying  in  Maine,  which  was  successfully  accomplished. 

In  the  following  year,  we  find  Mr.  Fessenden  in  the  State  legisla- 
ture, both  branches  of  which  were  Democratic.  But  the  Kansas-Ne- 
braska question  operating  as  a  disturbing  element,  he  was  now  elected 
United  States  Senator  by  both  branches — a  union  being  formed  of 
the  Whigs  and  Free-Soil  Democrats.  This  event  may  be  said  to  have 
been  the  preliminary  step  toward  establishing  the  Republican  party 
in  Maine — the  necessity  of  which,  after  the  action  of  the  Southern 
Whigs  on  the  Nebraska  Bill,  Mr.  Fessenden  earnestly  maintained. 
He  was  strongly  opposed  to  this  bill ;  and  shortly  after_taking  his  seat 
in  the  Senate,  and  on  the  night  when  it  was  passed,  he  delivered 
one  of  the  most  electric  and  effective  speeches  that  had  been  made 
against  it.  This  great  effort  established  his  reputation  in  the  Senate 
as  one  of  its  ablest  members..  Among  other  important  speeches  of 
Mr.  Fessenden  subsequently  made  in  the  Senate,  is  his  speech  on 
our  relations  with  England ;  also  that  on  Kansas  Affairs,  and  on  the 
President's  Message  in  1856  ;  on  the  Iowa  Senatorial  election  in  1857, 
and  on  the  Lecompton  Constitution  in  1858.  In  the  general  debates 
and  business  of  the  Senate,  he  has  from  the  beginning  taken  a  prom- 
inent part. 

In  1859,  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  his  party  in  the  .legislature,  and 
without  the  formality  of  a  previous  nomination,  Mr.  Fessenden  was 
re-elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  for  the  term  of  six  years. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  term  of  service  in  the  Senate,  he  was  ap- 
pointed, by  President  Lincoln,  Secretary  of  the  Treasuiy,  in  place  of 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  who  had  been  elevated  to  the  Supreme  Bench.  In 

77 


4  WILLIAM    P.    FESSENDEN. 

the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Finance 
Committee,  a  position  which  he  held  until  appointed  to  the  Cabinet 
in  1864.  In  his  capacity  as  Chairman  of  this  important  committee, 
Mr.  Fessenden's  labors  were  of  a  very  arduou^  character.  In  the 
Thirty-seventh  and  Thirty-eighth  Congresses  there  were  all  the  vast 
appropriations  of  the  Government  to  provide  for,  besides  the  labor 
of  originating  and  putting  in  operation  a  financial  system  which 
would  enable  the  Government  to  meet  the  demands  of  a  civil  war, 
waged  on  a  scale  of  colossal  proportions.  In  the  accomplishment  of 
all  this,  Mr.  Fessenden  bore  a  very  prominent  and  conspicuous  part, 
As  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Keconstruction,  very  much 'labor 
and  care  devolved  upon  him.  He  was  authorized  to  write  the  Re- 
port of  this  Committee,  which,  in  respect  to  ability,  may  be  consid- 
ered one  of  the  capital  achievements  of  his  life. 

As  a  laborer  in  the  important  work  belonging  to  a  legislator  and 
statesman,  probably  few,  if  any,  excel  Mr.  Fessenden.  For  clear,  in- 
cisive common  sense,  the  rarest  and  most  excellent  quality  of  a  Sen- 
ator, he  is  eminently  distinguished.  "  There  is  no  man  in  Congress," 
says  one,  "  whose  judgment  ^is  more  true,  whose  discretion  is  more 
absolute,  or  whose  conviction  is  more  sincere."  In  great  sagacity, 
catholic  comprehension,  and  in  that  just  estimate  of  what  is  practica- 
ble, he  is  probably  unsurpassed. 

Mr.  Fessenden  is  equally  eminent  as  a  debater.  He  thinks  closely, 
clearly,  and  accurately.  He  speaks  readily — being  prepared  to  discuss 
on  the  instant  almost  any  subject  that  may  be  presented.  His 
speeches  are  entirely  extemporaneous,  and  are  so  accurately  pronounc- 
ed that  they  can  be  put  in  type  without  the  change  of  a  sentence  or  a 
word.  And  then  there  is  scarcely  a  subject  presented  on  which  he 
does  not  have  something  to  say — his  remarks  being  brief  and  to  the 
point.  In  opposition  he  ii  almost  always  reasonable,  although,  at 
times,  the  stern  integrity  of  his  character  may  render  him  somewhat 
impatient,  particularly  when  in  debate  he  is  confronting  mere 
rhetoric  and  sentimentality  in  place  of  argument  and  sound  8niH> 
But  he  neither  traduces  nor  defies  his  opponents  ;  and  his  advocacy  of 

78 


WILLIAM    P.    FESSENDEN.  0 

measures  is  all  the  more  effective  that  while  firm,  prudent,  and  point- 
ed, he  is,  at  the  same  time,  usually  genial  and  always  respectful. 

Mr.  Fessenden's  course  and  bearing  in  the  progress  of  the  recon- 
struction measures  were  invariably  dignified  and  commendable.  No 
one  was  more  fully  aware  than  he  that  the  difficulties  of  the  situa- 
tion were  to  be  surmounted,  not  by  vituperation  and  crimination, 
nor  1by  petty  jealousies  or  lofty  moral  indignation;  but  rather  by 
tranquil  firmness  and  honest  argument.  Differing  from  the  Presi- 
dent, he  forbore,  however,  to  question  his  sincerity ;  and  while  con- 
vinced that  certain  conditions  of  reorganization  were  indispensable,  he 
refrained  from  either  exasperating  the  late  rebel  population,  on  the 
one  hand,  or  flattering  them,  on  the  other. 

Mr.  Fessenden,  as  is  well  known,  was  one  of  those  of  the  Republi- 
can party  who,  at  the  conclusion  of  President  Johnson's  Impeach- 
ment trial,  voted  for  his  acquittal. 

In  the  "  opinion  "  which  he  prepared  on  this  occasion,  he  said :  "It 
would  be  contrary  to  every  principle  of  justice,  to  the  clearest  dictates 
of  right,  to  try  and  condemn  any  man,  however  guilty  he  may  be* 
thought,  for  an  offense  not  charged,  of  which  no  notice  has  been  given 
to  him,  and  against  which  he  has  had  no  opportunity  to  defend  him- 
self." 

After  proceeding  at  great  length  and  with  much  learning  to  give 
reasons  why  he  regarded  the  President  not  guilty  on  the  several  arti- 
cles, he  added :  "  In  the  case  of  an  elective  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  great 
and  powerful  people,  living  under  a  written  Constitution,  there  is 
much  more  at  stake  in  such  a  proceeding  than  the  fate  of  the  individ- 
ual. The  office  of  President  is  one  of  the  great  co-ordinate  branches 
of  the  Government,  having  its  defined  powers,  privileges,  and  duties  ; 
as  essential  to  the  very  framework  of  the  Government  as  any  other, 
and  to  be  touched  with  as  careful  a  hand.  Anything  which  conduces 
to  weaken  its  hold  upon  the  respect  of  the  people,  to  break  down  the 
barriers  which  surround  it,  to  make  it  the  mere  sport  of  temporary 
majorities,  tends  to  the  great  injury  of  our  Government,  and  inflicts 
a  wound  upon  constitutional  liberty.  It  is  evident,  then,  as  it  seems 

79 


G  WILLIA.M    P.    FESSENDEN. 

to  me,  that  the  offense  for  which  a  Chief  Magistrate  is  removed  from 
of^ce,  and  the  power  intrusted  to  htm  by  the  people  transferred  to 
other  hands,  and  especially  where  the  hands  which  receive  it  are  to 
be  the  same  which  take  it  from  him,  should  be  of  such  a  character  as 
to  commend  itself  at  once  to  the  minds  of  all  right-thinking  men  as, 
beyond  all  question,  an  adequate  cause.  It  should  be  free  from  the 
taint  of  party,  leave  no  reasonable  ground  of  suspicion  upon  the  mo- 
tives of  those  who  inflict  the  penalty,  and  address  itself  to-  the  country 
and  the  civilized  world  as  a  measure  justly  called  for  by  the  gravity 
of  the  crime  and  the  necessity  for  its  punishment.  .Anything  less 
than  this,  especially  where  the  offense  is  one  not  defined  by  any  law, 
would,  in  my  judgment,  not  be  justified  by  a  calm  and  considerate 
public  opinion  as  a  cause  for  removal  of  a  President  of  the  United 
States.  And  its  inevitable  tendency  would  be  to  shake  the  faith  of 
the  friends  of  constitutional  liberty  in  the  permanency  of  our  free 
institutions  and  the  capacity  of  man  for  self-government." 

Mr.  Fessenden's  vote  to  acquit  the  President  subjected  him  to  con- 
siderable censure  from  a  majority  of  the  Republican  press  of  the 
country.  Subsequently,  on  declining  an  invitation  to  a  public  dinner 
tendered  to  him  by  some*  distinguished  citizens  of  Boston,  he  took 
occasion  to  explain  and  defend  his  action  in  the  case.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  surprise  and  regret  of  many  of  Mr.  Fessenden's 
friends  at  his  decision  in  this  momentous  trial,  no  one  can  reasona- 
bly call  in  question  the  integrity  and  purity  of  the  motives  by  which 
in  this,  as  in  his  other  public  acts,  he  seems  to  have  been  actuated. 


HON.  ZACHARIAH  CHANDLER  , 

SENATOR  PROM  MICHIGAN. 


ZAOHAEIAH   CHANDLER 


^ACHAKIAH  CHANDLER  is  a  native  of  Bedford,  K  H., 
and  was  born  Dec.  10,  1813.     He  received  an  academical 
education  in  addition  to  the  usual  school  training  given  to 
New  England  boys. 

As  is  common  with  such  boys,  he  worked  upon  the  farm  until  six- 
teen or  seventeen  years  old.  In.the  course  of  his  youth  he  taught 
school  two  or  three  winters ;  and  in  1833,  when  twenty-two  years  of 
age,  he  emigrated  to  Michigan,  and  engaged  in  mercantile  business 
in  Detroit.  The  country  was  then  new,  and  Detroit  was  a  town 
of  but  about  4,000  inhabitants. 

Mr.  Chandler  is  one  of  those  fortunate  men  of  the  West  who  have 
grown  up  with  the  country.  He  commenced,  at  first,  a  small  retail 
dry-goods  store,  but  was  soon  enabled  by  a  prosperous  trade  to  en- 
large his  business  to  a  wholesale  trade,  and  extended,  in  'course  of  time, 
his  operations  to  all  parts  of  the  surrounding  country,  so  that  there 
were  few  of  all  the  retail  dealers  in  Northern  and  Western  Michigan, 
Northern  Ohio  and  Indiana,  and  in  Western  Canada,  who  were  not 
numbered  among  his  customers. 

Mr.  Chandler  was  a  Whig  in  politics,  but  seems  never  to  have 
sought  for  political  honor,  choosing,  rather,  to  set  the  example  of  ac- 
cepting office  as  an  incident  of  the  success  of  his  party,  than  to  strive 
for  it  as  a  primary  object.  His  first  official  position  was  that  of  Mayor 
of  Detroit,  to  which  office  he  was  elected  in  1851.  Here  he  served 
acceptably,  and  the  following  year  was  nominated  for  Governor  of 
the  State.  His  strong  anti-slavery  convictions,  however,  were  brought 
into  the  canvass,  and  he  preferred  to  be  what  he  deemed  right,  than 

81 


2  ZACHAEIAH    CHANDLER. 

to  be  Governor.  In  denouncing  the  institution  of  slavery  as  the  great 
curse  of  the  nation,  he  lost  the  election.  The  progress  of  anti-slavery 
sentiment  in  Michigan  was  such  that  in  1856  he  was  elected  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  for  six  years,  and  took  his  seat  on  the  4th 
of  March  of  that  year. 

During  the  important  period  of  his  first  term  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  Mr.  Chandler  was  identified  with  all  the  leading  measures  of 
Congress  for  a  general  system  of  internal  improvements — for  prevent- 
ing a  further  increase  of  slave  territory,  and  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
powerful  domination  of  the  slave  power,  which  had  usurped  the  con- 
trol of  the  nation.  He  was  one  of -the  few  Northern  men  in  the  Sen- 
ate at  that  time  who  foresaw  the  tendency  of  events,  and  that  the 
country  was  drifting  onward  to  a  terrible  war. 

Mr.  Chandler  opposed  all  the  so-called  compromise  measures  of  the 
South,  as  the  virtual  surrender  of  the  liberties  of  the  people.  In  all 
the  Senatorial  contests  of  that  period,  he  stands  on  record  as  the  un- 
flinching defender  of  liberty,  and  the  fearless  advocate  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  These  great  doctrines  he 
maintained  by  speech  and  vote  in  the  Senate  and  before  the  people  ; 
and  if  an  appeal  to  arms  should  be  necessary,  he  welcomed  the  ar- 
bitration of  war. 

"  The  country,"  writes  one  of  Mr.  Chandler's  admirers,  "  does  not 
now  appreciate  how  much  it  owes  to  his  Koman  firmness.  The  people 
have  become  too  much  accustomed  to  regard  him  as  one  of  the  great 
fortresses  of  their  liberties,  which  no  artillery  could  breach,  and 
whose  parapet  no  storming  column  could  ever  reach,  that  they  have 
never  given  themselves  a  thought  as  to  the  disastrous  consequences 
which  might  have  followed  on  many  occasions  had  he  spolcen  or  voted 
otherwise  than  he  did.  When  did  he  ever  pander  to  position  or  com- 
plain of  being  overslaughed  by  his  party  ?  Yet  no  man  ever  did 
braver  work  for  a  party,  and  got  less  consideration  than  he." 

As  the  war  came  on,  and  seemed  for  a  time  to  be  prosecuted  with 
indifferent  success,  particularly  in  the  East,  Mr.  Chandler,  with  a  mul- 
titude of  other  good  men,  chafed  under  what  he  considered  the  dila- 


ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER.  3 

tory  and  unskillful  management  of  army  operations.  He  was  prompt 
to  discern  and  denounce  the  want  of  generalship  in  McClellan.  His 
speech  on  this  subject,  made  in  the  Senate,  July  7,  1862 — soon  after 
the  defeat  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac — was  bold  and  incisive. 
"  The  country,"  he  exclaimed,  "  is  in  peril ;  and  from  whom — by  whom  ? 
And  who  is  responsible  ?  As  I  have  said,  there  are  two  men  to-day 
who  are  responsible  for  the  present  position  of  the  army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. The  one  is  the  President  of  the  United  States,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, whom  I  believe  to.be  a  patriot — whom  I  believe  to  be  honest, 
and  honestly  earnest  to  crush  out  and  put  down  this  rebellion ;  the 
other  is  George  B.  McClellan,  General  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
of  whom  I  will  not  express  a  belief.  *  *  Either  denounce  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  whom  I  believe  to  be  a 
pure  and  honest  man,  or  George  B.  McClellan,  who  has  defeated  your 
army.  He  took  it  to  Fortress  Monroe,  used  it  guarding  rebel  prop- 
erty, sacrificed  the  half  of  it  in  the  swamps  and  marshes  before 
Yorktown  and  the  Chickahominy,  and  finally  brought  up  the  right 
wing  with  only  thirty  thousand  men,  and  held  it  there  till  it  whipped 
the  overwhelming  forces  of  the  enemy,  repulsed  them  three  times, 
and  then  it  was  ordered  to  retreat,  and  after  that,  the  enemy  fought 
li*ke  demons,  as  you  and  I  knew  they  would,  a  retreating,  defeated 
army.  Tell  me  where  were  the  left  and  center  of  our  army?  Tell 
me,  where  were  the  forces  in  front  of  our  left  and  center  ?  Sir,  twenty 
thousand  men  from  the  left  and  the  center  to  reinforce  Porter  on  the 
morning  after  his  savage  and  awful  fight,  would  have  sent  the  enemy 
in  .disgrace  and  disaster  into  Richmond." 

Mr.  Chandler,  as  we  have  seen,  had  no  patience  with  any  half- 
heartedness,  or  dilatory  eiforts  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  against 
the  rebellion.  He  was  for  striking  decided  and  heavy  blows  in  order 
to  crush  the  power  of  the  enemy,  and  it  was  under  the  influence  of 
such  sentiments  that  he,  in  his  place  in  the  Senate,  proposed  a  spe- 
cial "  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War."  This  Committee  was 
at  once  ordered.  Mr.  Chandler  declined  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Committee,  but  was  one  of  its  most  energetic  members ;  and  his  zeal- 

83 


4  ZACHARIAH    CHANDLER. 

ous  and  faithful  efforts,  in  connection  with  his  associates,  soon  resulted 
in  the  removal  of  McClellan  from  his  command.  Equally  active  was 
he  throughout  the  war  in  promoting  its  efficacy,  looking  after  the  in- 
terests of  the  soldiers,  and  encouraging  all  -measures  tending  to  a  suc- 
cessful issue  of  the  great  struggle ;  a  struggle  he  knew  it  would 
prove  to  be,  in  the  very  commencement  of  the  revolt ;  and  he  then, 
in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Governor  of  Michigan,  intimated  that 
blood  must  flow  if  the  Government  was  to  be  preserved,,  Several 
years  afterwards,  when  taunted  in  the  Senate  by  a  Democratic  Sena- 
tor in  reference  to  this  letter  on  "blood-letting,"  Mr.  Chandler 
responded  as  follows :  "  It  is  not  the  first  time  that  I  have  been  ar- 
raigned on  that  indictment  of  '  blood-letting.'  I  was  first  arraigned 
for  it  upon  this  floor  by  the  traitor  John  C.  Breckenridge ;  and  after 
I  gave  him  his  answer,  he  went  out  into  the  rebel  ranks  and  fought 
against  our  flag.  I  was  arraigned  by  another  Senator  from  Ken- 
tucky, and  by  other  traitors  on  this  floor!  I  expect  to  be  arraigned 
again.  I  wrote  the  letter,  and  I  stand  by  the  letter,  and  what  was 
in  it.  What  was  the  position  of  the  country  when  that  letter  was 
written?  The  Democratic  party,  as  an  organization,  had  arrayed 
itself  against  this  Government ;  a  Democratic  traitor  in  the  Presi- 
dential chair,  and  a  Democratic  traitor  in  every  department  of  this 
Government ;  Democratic  traitors  preaching  treason  upon  this  floor, 
and  preaching  treason  in  the  hall  of  the  other  House ;  Democratic 
traitors  in  your  army  and  navy ;  Democratic  traitors  controlling  every 
branch  of  this  Government;  your  flag  was  fired  upon,  and  there 
was  no  response;  the  Democratic  party  had  ordained  that  this 
Government  should  be  overthrown ;  and  I,  a  Senator  from  the  State 
of  Michigan,  wrote  to  the  Governor  of  that  State,  '  unless  you  are 
prepared  to  shed  blood  for  the  preservation  of  this  great  Govern- 
ment, the  Government  is'overthrown.'  That  is  all  there  was  to  that 
letter.  That  I  said,  and  that  I  say  again  ;  and  I  tell  that  Senator,  if 
he  is  prepared  to  go  down  in  history  with  the  Democratic  traitors 
who  then  co-operated  with  him,  I  am  prepared  to  go  down  on  that 
'  blood-letting '  letter,  and  I  stand  by  the  record  as  then  made." 

84 


H 0  N.  E    D    M  G  R  G  AN 

SENATOR  FROM  NEW  YORK 


EDWIN"   D.    MOKG-A^. 


DWIN  DENNISON  MORGAN  is  the  seventh  of  her  Gov- 
ernors whom  New  York  has  honored  with  a  seat  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.     The  others  were  DeWitt 
Clinton,  Yan  Buren,  Marcy,  Wright,  Seward,  and  Fish. 

Mr.  Morgan  is  a  native  of  the  town  of  Washington,  Massachu- 
setts, where  he  was  born  on  the  eighth  of  February,  1811.  He  here 
enjoyed  the  opportunities  afforded  by  the  public  schools,  until  the 
age  of  twelve  years,  when  his  father  removed  to  Windsor,  Connecti- 
cut, where  he  attended  the  high  school,  and  subsequently  was  a  stu- 
dent in  the  Bacon  Academy  at  Colchester.  In  the  family  exodus 
to  Windsor,  this  youth  of  a  dozen  years  drove  an  ox  team  loaded 
with  household  effects,  performing  a  good  share  of  the  journey,  some 
fifty  miles,  on  foot.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  entered  the  whole-' 
sale  grocery  and  commission  house  of  an  uncle,  in  Hartford,  as  clerk. 
Anecdotes  illustrative  of  his  mature  judgment  and  penetration  are 
extant,  qualities  which  early  commanded  his  relative's  attention,  and, 
at  the  end  of  three  years,  procured  for  him  admission  to  a  partner- 
ship. He  remained  here  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  until  his 
removal  to  the  city  of  New  York,  whither,  in  1836,  he  went  with  a 
view  to  larger  business  opportunities.  The  period  for  such  a  change 
was  perhaps  fortunately  chosen,  for  the  financial  crisis  of  1837,  which 
occurred  a  few  months  after  his  advent  there,  afforded,  to  a  practical 
observer  like  himself,  valuable  lessons  in  the  ethics  of  trade.  At  all 
events,  his  commercial  house,  since  so  successful,  was  established 
about  this  time  on  a  sound  and  permanent  basis.  Enterprise,  resolu- 
tion, and  honorable  dealing,  marked  its  course,  and  soon  acquired  for 

85 


2  EDWIN    D.   MORGAN. 

Mr.  Morgan  a  leading  place  among  those  engaged  in  pursuits  like 
his  own. 

While  vigilant  in  business,  he  was  not  unmindful  of  the  claims . 
implied  in  the  right'  of  citizenship,  and  from  1840  to  the  close  of  the 
canvass  that  resulted  in  the  overwhelming  defeat  of  General  Scott, 
he  labored  assiduously  in  the  Whig  ranks,  though  realizing  that  the 
non-election  of  Mr.  Clay,  to  whom  he  was  devoted,  destroyed  the 
prestige  of  his  party.  He  acted  as  Yice-President  of  the  Republi- 
can National  Convention  held  at  Pittsburg,  in  1856,  and  was  there 
made  Chairman  of  the  National  Committee.  In  that  capacity  he 
opened  the  Convention  at  Philadelphia,  in  1856,  that  nominated  Fre- 
mont, that  at  Chicago,  in  1860,  which  nominated  Lincoln,  and  also 
that  of  1864,  at  Baltimore,  which  re-nominated  Mr.  Lincoln.  In 
1866,  he  was  made  Chairman  of  the  Union  Congressional  Committee? 

In  1849,  he  was  elected  to  the  Board  of  Assistant  Aldermen  in  New 
York,  of  which  he  was  chosen  President.  A  few- weeks  after  taking 
his  seat  in  the  latter  body,  the  Asiatic  Cholera  broke  out,  an$  owing 
to  the  unfavorable  sanitary  condition  of  the  city,  it  spread  so  rapidly 
as  to  create  great  alarm.  Mr.  Morgan  was  placed  upon  the  Sanitary 
Committee,  and  so  imminent  appeared  the  danger  from  this  pesti- 
lence that  his  whole  time  was  devoted  to  the  details  of  the  position. 
Hospitals  were  to  be  improvised,  the  sale  of  food  to  be  regulated, 
streets,  yards,  and  places  to  be  cleansed — indeed,  many  and  pressing 
were  the  thankless  duties  incident  to  a  critical  moment  like  this,  in  a 
great  city  whose  population  is  drawn  from  all  quarters  of  the  world. 
The  efforts  of  the  Board  were  attended  with  signal  success,  and  in  the 
fall  of  that  year  the  Whig  electors  of  the  Sixth  Senatorial  District 
indicated  their  sense  of  his  services  by  giving  him  a  seat  in  the  State 
Senate,  and  re-electing  him  two  years  afterward.  In  the  Senate  he 
was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Standing  Committee  on  Finance, 
where  he  remained  through  his  term.  At  the  Session'  of  1851  he 
was  made  President  pro  tempore  of  that  body,  serving  also  in  the  . 
same  capacity  at  the  extra  meeting  of  that  summer ;  and  although 
the  Democratic  party  had  gained  control  of  the  Senate  in  18,52,  he 


EDWIN    D.    MORGAN.  3 

was  unanimously  chosen  again  as  its  temporary  President,  and  also 
for  the  fourth  time  in  1853. 

In  1855,  he  was  appointed  a  Commissioner  of  Emigration,  which 
place  was  held  until  1858,  when  he  was  elected  Governor.  To  the 
latter  office,  before  the  end  of  his  term,  two  years  afterward,  he  was 
re-elected  by  the  largest  majority  ever  given  to  a  governor  in  the 
State  of  New  Tork.  Important  duties  lay  in  the  four  years  he  was 
destined  to  fill  the  gubernatorial  chair ;  and  as  events  proved,  he  pos- 
sessed rare  qualifications  for  their  performance.  A  knowledge  of 
men,  a  high  standing  in  the  commercial  community,  a  thorough 
business  training,  and  practical  knowledge  of  the  complex  finances 
of  the  State,  coupled  with  clear  and  enlightened  views  on  questions 
falling  within  the  scope  of  his  functions,  and  freedom  from  petty  pre- 
judices, blended  happily  in  the  new  Governor.  He  had  need  of  all 
these  advantages,  as  also  of  his  tireless  industry,  equable  temper,  and 
robust  physique.  His  first  term,  though  marked  with  vigor  and  the 
initiation  of  important  reforms,  was  preparatory  to  the  second,  whose 
duties  in  extent  and  importance  no  other  Governor  of  the  State  has 
been  called  upon  to  perform. 

On  entering  office,  he  found  the  State's  high  credit  threatened,  the 
public  works  still  unfinished,  though  millions  had  been  expended  for 
their  completion. 

Popular  expectation,  disappointed  often,  and  wearied  at  length 
by  the  languid  progress  of  the  enlargement,  was  giving  way  to  a 
disposition,  adroitly  fostered,  to .  sell  the  canals,  thereby  to  create 
a  great  and  controlling  monopoly,  most  baneful  in  its  character. 
The  militia,  as  an  organization,. had  by  degrees,  through  years  of 
peace,  quite  lost  its  efficiency,  and  the  condition  of  the  military  prop- 
erty and  arsenal  supplies  was  sorry  enough.  His  first  message  to  the 
Legislature,  like  all  his  others,  shows  a  clear  and  searching  insight 
into  the  condition  of  the  State  in  its  varied  interests.  These  papers 
are  eminently  clear  and  frank,  and  are  wanting  neither  in  force  of 
diction  nor  soundness  of  doctrine.  In  his  first  communication  to 
the  Legislature  occurs  this  sentence  :  "  Upright  intentions,  a  heart 

ar 


4  EDWIN    D.   MORGAN. 

devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  commonwealth,  and  unceasing  appli- 
cation, are  all  the  pledges  I  can  give  for  the  faithful  execution  of  the 
trusts  delegated  to  me  by  the  people  of  New  York" 

Pledge  was  never  better  kept,  and  he  proceeded  at  once  to  make 
ft  good.  The  Canal  finances  received  the  first  attention.  The  Canal 
revenues  had  fallen  largely  below  the  constitutional  claims  upon 
them,  owing,  in  part,  to  an  immense  reduction  in  tolls,  but  most  of 
all  to  a  lax  system  of  expenditure  by  the  use  of  drafts  upon  the 
treasury,  anticipatory  of  appropriations,  to  the  extent  of  millions  of 
dollars,  in  express  defiance  of  the  laws  and  the  Constitution.  This 
illegitimate  paper  was  hawked  in  the  markets,  where  it  was  known 
as  "  floating  debt,"  a  new  form  of  obligation  to  New  York's  ledger 
of  State  indebtedness.  It  was  daily  growing  in  volume,. and  was 
prejudicing  other  forms  of  the  State's  credit.  The  proceeds  were 
being  used,  it  is  true,  though  not  with  economy,  in  completing  the 
Canals.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  present  the  whole  subject  to  the  Leg- 
islature, and  to  recommend  early  provision  for  its  liquidation.  "  The 
people,  thereby,"  said  he,  "  are  placed  in  the  dilemma  of  paying  an 
unauthorized  debt,  or  seemingly  incurring  the  stain  of  repudia- 
tion ; "  and  while  protesting  against  the  whole  system,  adds,  "  but 
under  no  circumstances  will  the  State  of  New  York  ever  refuse  to 
acknowledge  and  pay  every  and  all  just  claims  existing  against  her, 
or  that  have  been  contracted  by  any  of  her  recognized  agents."  The 
question  was  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  who  legalized  the 
debt,  though  by  a  majority  so  limited  as  to  afford  wholesome  warn- 
ing to  any  who  might  hereafter  be  tempted  to  repeat  so  evil  a  prac- 
tice. As  respected  the  current  management  of  the  Canals,  he  urged 
that  the  tolls  be  largely  increased,  and  the  cost  of  maintenance  be 
essentially  lessened.  Both  recommendations  were  adopted  with  most 
satisfactory  results.  He  took  decided  ground  against  the  sale  of  the 
Canals,  and,  with  characteristic  energy,  urged  their  completion. 
Before  retiring  from  the  Executive  office  he  had  the  satisfaction 
of  announcing  the  Canal  enlargement  as  fully  effected. 

The  inadequate  defenses  of  the  harbor  of  New  York  were  eany 


EDWIN    D.   MORGAN.  5 

adverted  to  by  him  with  earnestness,  and  the  series  of  labors  per- 
formed by  him  in  this  connection,  and  also  in  conjunction  with 
others,  afford  honorable  example  of  public  economy  and  practical 
wisdom.  In  response  to  an  inquiry  from  the  Inspector-General  of 
the  Army,  he  says,  in  December,  1867 : 

"  You  ask  what  steps  were  taken  by  me,  as  Governor  of  New 
York,  in  response  to  Mr.  Seward's  circular  letter  of  October,  1861, 
upon  tfie  subject  of  perfecting  harbor  and  coast  defenses,  and  the 
amount  of  expense  incurred  by  the  State  for  that  purpose.  Immedi- 
ately on  the  reception  of  Mr.  Seward's  letter,  I  proceeded  to  ascer- 
tain what  mode  of  defense  would  be  the  most  judicious  to  adopt, 
with  a  view  to  making  temporary  provision  therefor.  I  had  called 
the  attention  of  the  Legislature  to  the  inadequate  defenses  of  the 
harbor  of  New  York  in  January,  1860,  and,  in  view  of  dangers  not 
necessary  here  to  detail,  the  subject  had  not  been  lost  sight  of. 
Hence,  I  was  the  more  ready  to  co-operate  with  the  General  Govern- 
ment in  providing  for  the  safety  of  the  lake  and  sea-ports  of  the 
State,  when  the  letter  reached  me  to  which  you  have  called  my  atten- 
tion. 

"  To  the  Legislature,  on  its  assembling,  I  referred  the  whole  subject, 
with  the  recommendation  that,  in  default  of  prompt  action  on  the 
part  of  the  national  authorities,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  State  to  pro- 
ceed without  delay  with  such  portions  of  the  defense  as  prudence 
should  dictate. 

"Under  apprehensions  of  hostilities  growing  out  of  the  Trent 
affair,  \  had,  in  December,  1861,  purchased  a  large  quantity  of  timber 
for  floating  obstructions,  at  an  aggregate  qost  of  about  $80,000,  for  use, 
if  need  be,  in  the  form  of  cribs  or  rafts,  connected  by  chain  cables,  to 
be  anchored  at  the  Narrows.  The  plan  for  its  use,  an  eminently 
feasible  one,  had  been  carefully  matured.  "When  no  longer  necessary, 
the  timber  was  sold,  without  loss  to  the  State  treasury. 

"No  expense  was  therefore  incurred,  either  in  1861  or  1862,  for 
the  specific  object  of  your  inquiry.  But  early  in  1863,  the  defense- 
less condition  of  the  harbor  of  New  York  was  again  the  occasion  ofj 

89 


6  .    EDWIN    D.   MORGAN. 

disquietude,  because  of  the  unfavorable  aspect  of  this  country's  rela- 
tions with  the  two  principal  naval  forces  pf  Europa,  and- the  liability 
to  ravages  of  privateers.  Accordingly,  the  Legislature  appropriated 
$1,000,000  for  the  purchase  of  cannon,  sub-marine  batteries,  and 
iron-clad  steamers,  and  for  providing  such  other  means  to  protect  the 
harbors  and  frontiers  of  the  State  as  were  deemed  necessary  by  the 
commissioners  named  in  the  act,  Governor  Seymour,  Lucius  Robinson, 
comptroller,  and  myself.  • 

"Popular  apprehensions  had,  doubtless,. magnified  dangers  suffi- 
ciently grave,  and  the  commissioners  lost  no  time  in  personally  exam- 
ining in  detail  all  the  fortifications  in  the  !i.  I'bor,  and  conferring  with 
engineers  thoroughly  conversant  wit'i  the  subject.  As  Government 
was  then  rapidly  placing  the  largest  and  most  improved  guns  in  the 
forts  and  progressing  with  the  fortifications,  there  remained  little  to 
be  done  in  that  direction  by  the  State  authorities,  whose  duties  could 
therefore  be  best  performed  by  supplementing  the  labors  of  the  Fed- 
eral agents.  And  after  due  consultation  with  the  Federal  Officers  and 
other  practical  engineers,  whose  services,  with  the  exception  of  the 
engineer  in  charge,  it  is  but  just  to  say,  were  gratuitously  rendered, 
it  was  concluded  to  again  resort  to  floating  obstructions.  Plans  were 
at  once  advertised  for,  and,  in  due  time,  proposals  for  materials  in- 
vited. As  a  precaution,  my  associates  formally  authorized  me,  in  case 
of  an  unexpected  attack  upon  the  city  of  New  York,  to  take  such 
instant  measures  for  defense  as  I  might  deem  necessary,  with  liberty 
to  use  the  whole  appropriation,  if  required,  for  that  purpose. 

"When  the  bids  were  opened  it  was  found  that  the  enhanced  price 
of  timber  and  iron  would  so  increase  the  cost  of  the  proposed  work 
as  to  render  a  further  appropriation  necessary,  and,  as  meantime  the 
relations  of  our  country  with  certain  foreign  governments  had 
become  more  pacific,  it  was  decided  to  defer  action  until  the  regular 
meeting  of  the  Legislature.  Practically,  however,  the  means  for  pro- 
viding a  defense  were  at  all  times  within  reach.  Timber  in  suffi- 
cient quantities  and  suitable  iron  cables  were  at  command  in  case  of 
emergency,  and  as  the  plans  -for  the  use  of  these  were  well  under- 

90 


EDWIN    D.   MORGAN.  .  7 

stood  by  a  competent  board  of  engineer  officers  who  could  be  speedily 
convened,  it  was  deemed  unnecessary  to-  urge  further  action.  It  only 
remains  to  be  stated  that  of  the  appropriation  but  §5,000  were  used  ; 
the  balance  of  the  million  remains  untouched  in  the  State  treasury." 

The  subject  of  executive  pardons  received  more  than  ordinary  con- 
sideration from  him,  and  considered  in  proportion  to  the  applications 
presented,  he  granted  fewer  pardons  than  any  of  his  predecessors. 
The  matter  of  special  legislation  and  the  want  of  specific  accounta- 
bility for  appropriations  to  charitable  objects  engaged  particular  atten- 
tion. 

In  common  with  close  observers,  he  from  the  first  held  as  serious 
the  threats  of  secession  that  followed  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  but 
lent  his  influence  to  calm  the  popular  mind,  and  to  remove,  so  far  as 
was  consistent  with  principle,  any  pretext  for  the  course  finally  pur- 
sued by  the  South.  But  the  attack  on  Sumter  ended  all  disposition 
on  his  part  to  placate  that  section.  "  This  gratuitous  violence,  and 
this  deliberate  insult  to  the  flag,  conclusive!/  proves  to  all,"  said  he, 
"  that  it  ifi  the  design  of  the  leaders  to  break  up  the  Government." 
Thenceforward,  day  by  day,  he  bent  every  energy  to  the  work  of 
putting  down  the  rebellion.  No  other  State  was  looked  to  for  so 
many  men  and  so  much  money  as  New  Tor5.  Her  quota  was 
about  one-fifth  part  of  all  the  troops  called  for.  The  Legislature 
was  about  to  adjourn  when  the  news  from  Charleston  harBor  reached 
Albany.  A  few  earnest  words  served  to  present  his  views  to  the 
two  Houses.  In  forty-eight  hours  they  had  appropriated  three 
millions  and  a  half  in  money  for  war  purposes,  and  authorized  the 
raising  of  30,000  volunteers.  With  the  aid  of  the  State  Military 
Board  this  number  was  soon  enrolled  and  fully  organized,  and,  by 
the  third  week  in  May,  was  hurried  into  the  field,  whither  nine  regi- 
ments of  State  militia,  serving  as  minute  men,  had'  preceded  them. 
So  extensive  had  been  the  preparations  of  the  rebels,  as  to  leave  it 
obvious  that  a  single  campaign  would  not  end  the  struggle  of  the  in- 
surgents. Hence,  Governor  Morgan  was  averse  to  refusing  volunteers 
after  the  State's  quota  was  filled ;  and  when  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  oc- 

91 


8  EDWIN    D.   MORGAN. 

curred,  he  was  in  Washington  seeking  authority  to  establish  camps  of 
instruction  at  two  or  three  points  in  the  State,  with  a  view  to  greater 
efficiency  of  recruits,  and  to  keep  aglow  the  spirit  of  enlistment.  Fol- 
lowing the  first  great  rebuff  to  Union  arms,  came  the  President's  call 
upon  New  York  for  25,000  men,  and  this  demand  was  so  far  increased 
that  on  the  first  of  January  the  State  had  raised  120,600  troops.  On 
that  day  he  was  able  to  assert  that  "  no  requisition  had  been  made 
by  the  Government  that  remained  unhonored." 

The  city  of  "New  York  was  a  common  rendezvous  for  the  several 
States ;  and  many  independent  regiments  were  there  forming,  thereby 
impeding  the  State  authorities.  In  view  of  these  facts,  and  to 
secure  other  practical  advantages,  at  the  same  time  to  express  his 
sense  of  the  important  services  rendered  by  Governor  Morgan,  the 
President,  in  September,  1861,  appointed  him  a  Major-General  of 
Volunteers,  and  created  the  State  into  a  military  department  under 
his  command.  It  is  proper  to  add  that  he  declined  any  emolument 
for  this  duty  of  sixteen 'months. 

Succeeding  the  ardent  spirit  of  volunteering  of  the  earlier  months 
of  the  war,  came  a  period  when  the  disposition  wholly  ceased.  The 
tardy  movements  of  the  eastern  army  and  the  unsuccessful  series  of 
battles  of  midsumnfer  of  that  year  had  done  the  work.  But  the  dis- 
aster that  culminated  at  Malvern  Hill,  rendered  a  call  indispensible, 
to  be  quicSly  followed  by  a  second  requisition  of  equal  extent. 

The  quota  of  New  York  under  the  two  was  120,000  men. 
Prompt  action  was  vital,  and  a  special  incentive  to  secure  the  new 
levies  became  necessary.  The  public  clamored  for  an  extra  session 
of  the  Legislature  to  authorize  a  bounty.  But  this  involved  the  delay 
of  days,  possibly  of  weeks,  when  time  was  so  precious.  It  was  clear 
that  the  people  of  the  commonwealth  favored  a  bounty,  and  Gov- 
ernor- Morgan  did  not  hesitate  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  offering 
one.  Accordingly  he  announced  that  the  State  would  give  $50  to 
each  man  enlisting  for  three  years.  The  stimulus  proved  sufficient, 
and  volunteering*  at  once  began  again  in  earnest.  A  class  of  volun- 
teers inferior  to  none  who  had  ever  taken  up  arms,  were  brought  into 


EDWIN    D.   MORGAN.  9 

the  service.  The  aggregate  sum  expended  for  this  object  was  about 
$3,500,000,  which  the  Legislature  at  its  next  session,  acting  on  the 
recommendation  of  Governor  Seymour,  lost  no  time  in  legalizing. 
The  mode  employed  in  this  emergency,  that  of  raising  local  regi- 
ments by  committees  of  leading  citizens  for  their  respective  Senate 
districts,proved  to  be  wisely  chosen.  In  a  few  days  a  regiment  was 
ready  for  the  field,  and  they  followed  each  other  with  steady  pace, 
at  the  rate  of  one  a  day  until  the  great  quotas  were  filled.  Several 
of  these  regiments  were  equipped  with  arms  purchased  by  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  most  of  them  were  uniformed  and  otherwise  supplied  from 
his  purchases.  They  reached  the  field  in  time  to  take  part  in  the 
battle  of  Antietam,  inspiriting  by  their  presence  the  hearts  of  the 
veterans  whose  rapid  marches  northward  had  prevented  communica- 
tion with  friends,  and  who  were  needing  such  a  stimulus.  •  By  the  end 
of  his  term  he  had  sent  no  less  than  320,000  men  into  the  field, 
being  more  than  a  fifth  part  of  all  that  had  yet  entered  the  service. 
In  addition  to  these,  the  State  militia  regiments  were  on  three  sev- 
eral occasions  dispatched  to  Washington,  to  answer  emergencies'. 
The  thanks  of  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  War  were  fre- 
quently tendered  Governor  Morgan,  for  his  promptness  and  efficiency 
in  responding  to  their  demands,  and  the  extent  of  the  aid  that  as 
executive  of  New  York  he  was  enabled  to  render.  When  he  left  the 
office,  New  York  stood  credited  with  an  excess  over  all  quotas. 

Contracts  for  rations,  clothing,  arms  and  ordnance,  to  the  extent 
of  many  million  dollars,  had  been  made  by  him  in  behalf  of  the 
General  Government,  in  addition  to  what  had  been  purchased  for 
the  State.  All  these  business  transactions  have  received  the  approval 
of  the  Federal  authorities. 

There  were,  during  his  latter  term,  causes  of  grave  uneasiness  to 
which  the  public  gave  no  particular  heed,  but  which  occasioned  him 
no  little  anxiety.  The  disorderly  element  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
stimulated  by  persons  not  unfriendly  to  the  South,  and  which  a  few 
months  after  his  retirement*  originated  the  riot  there,  was  watched 
by  him  with  unceasing  care.  The  rebel  element  in  Canada,  too,  and 


10.  EDWIN    D.   MORGAN. 

- 

the  threatening  aspect  of  the  relations  of  this  country  with  Great 
Britain  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  war,  made  necessary,  considering 
the  proximity  of  the  State  to  Canada  and  its  extended  and  exposed 
frontier,  a  provision  for  prompt  defense  or  retaliation ;  and  in  the 
winter  of  1862,  a  plan  was  matured,  the  execution  of  which  he 
would  have  intrusted  to  General  Wadsworth,  with  the  latter's  ap- 
proval, to  secure  the  State  from  hostile  dangers  in  that  quarter. 
-The  subsequent  raid  at  St.  Albans  and  elsewhere  along  the  northern, 
borders,  was  but  a  feeble  indication  of  what  might  have  been  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  the  rebellion. 

In  February,  1862,  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  for  the  term  of  six  years,  to  succeed  Preston  King.  He  took 
his  seat  at  the  called  session  of  March  of  that  year,  and  has  served 
on  the  Committees  on  Commerce,  Finance,  the  Pacific  Railroad,  as 
Chairman  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  the  Library,  on  Manufactures, 
Military  Aifairs,  Mines  and  Mining,  and  on  Printing. 

In  February,  1865,  on  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Fessenden,  he  was 
asked  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  accept  the  position  of  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  This  he  declined;  but  not  disposed  to  forego  the  ad- 
vantages which  he  believed  Mr.  Morgan's  presence  in  the  Cabinet 
at  the  head  of  the  Finances  would  bring,  the  President,  disregarding 
his  expressed  wishes,  nominated  him  without  his  knowledge,  and  it 
was  only. after  earnest  objections  on  his  part  that  Mr.  Lincoln  con- 
sented to  withdraw  his  name  and  leave  him  in  the  Senate. 

At  its  commencement,  in  July,  1867,  Williams  College,  which  is 
located  in  his  native  county  of  Berkshire,  Massachusetts,  conferred 
upon  him  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws. 

94 


RON  T  A  HEN'DRICKS. 

3EKATOR  FR-"M  IMIJ.TAMA. 


THOMAS   A.    HESTDKICKS. 


rHOMAS  A.  HENDRICKS  was  born  in  Muskingum 
County,  Ohio,  September  7,  1819.  He  was  educated  at 
South  Hanover  College.  He  studied  law  at  Chambers- 
burg,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  completed  his  legal  studies  in  1843. 
He  soon  after  settled  in  Indiana,  of  which  State  his  uncle,  Hon. 
William  Hendricks,  was  an  early  Governor,  and  a  United  States 
Senator. 

In  the  profession  of  law,  Mr.  Hendricks  met  with  marked  success, 
and  attained  great  eminence.  His  professional  business  soon  ceased  to 
be  of  a  mere  local  character,  his  practice  extending  largely  into  the 
highest  courts  of  the  State  and  the  nation.  In  1848,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  Indiana  Legislature.  In  1850,  he  was  an  active 
member  of  the  Convention  to  amend  the  State  Constitution.  In 
1851,  he  was  elected  a  Representative  in  Congress  from  Indiana, 
and  served  two  terms. 

In  1855,  Mr.  Hendricks  was  appointed,  by  President  Pierce,  Com- 
missioner of  the  General  Land  Office.  During  the  four  years  of  his 
service  in  this  capacity,  more  business  was  transacted  by  the  General 
Land  Office  than  at  any  previous  or  subsequent  period.  Over  four 
hundred  thousand  land  patents  were  issued ;  and  the  land  sold,  located 
by  warrants,  and  taken  by  grants,  amounted  to  eighty  millions  of 
acres.  ^ 

In  1860,  Mr.  Hendricks  was  the  candidate  of  the  Democratic 
party  for  Governor  of  Indiana,  but  was  defeated.  Two  years  later, 
his  party  having  carried  the  State,  he  was  elected  a  United  States 
Senator  for  the  term  ending  March  4,  1869. 

95 


2  THOMAS    A.    HENDRICKS. 

In  1868,  the  name  of  Mr.  Hendricks  was  prominently  before  the 
New  York  National  Convention  for  the  nomination  as  the  Demo- 
cratic candidate  for  the  Presidency.  It  was  deeply  regretted  by 
many  of  his  party  that  he  was  not  chosen  as  their  leader  in  the  great 
political  struggle  which  ensued.  He  actively  participated  in  the 
campaign,  however,  as  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Governor  of 
Indiana.  After  an  exciting  campaign  and  a  close  contest,  he  was 
defeated  by  a  majority  of  about  one  thousand. 

In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Hendricks  was  justly 
regarded  as  the  ablest  in  the  ranks  of  the  minority.  With  great  argu- 
mentative ability,  and  never-failing  good  humor,  he  advocated  the 
policy  of  his  party  in  opposition  to  the  Reconstruction  Acts  of  Con- 
gress. His  great  arguments  on  the  Freedman's  Bureau,  the  Civil 
Rights  Bill,  and  on  various  questions  of  Reconstruction,  were 
regarded  by  all  as  masterly  presentations  of  Democratic  principles 
and  policy. 

The  career  of -Mr.  Hendricks  in  the  Senate  has  been  marked  by  so 
much  ability  and  courtesy  as  to  win  the  respect  and  regard  of  his 
political  opponents.  In  the  course  of  a  discussion  in  the  Thirty- 
ninth  Congress,  a  Republican  Senator  pronounced  Mr.  Hendricks 
"  the  best  natured  man  in  the  Senate."  On  another  occasion  a 
Republican  Senator  remarked  in  debate,  that  if  he  had  as  much 
respect  for  the  political  opinions  of  Mr.  Hendricks  as  for  his  abilities, 
they  would  seldom  disagree. 

As  a  speaker,  Mr.  Hendricks  is  graceful,  deliberate,  and  impres- 
sive. He  states  legal  and  political  propositions  with  clearness,  and 
deduces  conclusions  with  great  logical  skill,  constantly  giving  evi- 
dence of  careful  investigation  and  thorough  understanding  of  his 
subject.  When  feeling  is  to  be  aroused,  or  action  to  be  urged,  his 
earnestness  of  manner  gives  great  weight  to  his  appeals.  He  uses 
little  ornament,  relying  for  effect  rather  on  plain  statement  than  on 
rhetorical  flourish. 

On  the  30th  of  January,  1868,  Mr.  Hendricks  delivered  in  the 
Senate  a  speech  on  the  Supplementary  Reconstruction  Bill  then 

96 


THOMAS    A.    HENDRICKS.  3 

pending,  from  the  concluding  portion  of  which  we  make  the  follow- 
ing extracts : 

"What  objection  have  you  to  the  constitutions  of  the  Southern 
States  as  amended  by  the  people  ?  For  two  years  you  have  made 
war  against  this  policy ;  for  two  years  you  have  kept  these  States  out 
of  the  Union  so  far  as  representation  was  concerned ;  for  two  years 
you  have  kept  this  country  disturbed  and.  distracted ;  trade,  com- 
merce, and  business  have  been  uncertain  and  shivering ;  industry  has 
been  fearful  to  put  forth  its  hand,  or  capital  to  trust  to  any  enter- 
prise ;  the  spirit  of  harmony  and  of  union  has  been  passing  away 
from  both  sections  of  the  country,  because  of  the  strife  that  you  have 
thus  kept  up.  For  what  have  you  done  it  ?  What  end  have  you 
attained^  *  *  *  You  can  lay  your  hand  of  logic  upon  but  one 
thing.  *  *  *  You  have  taken  the  robes  of  political  power  off 
the  shoulders  of  white  men,  and  you  have  put  them  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  negroes.  *  *  * 

"  A  republican  form  of  government  is  a  form  in  which  the  people 
make  their  own  laws  through  legislators  selected  by  themselves,  exe- 
cute their  laws  through  an  executive  department  chosen  by  them- 
selves, and  administer  their  laws  through  their  own  courts.  Is  not 
that  as  near  a  republican  form  of  government  as  you  can  have? 
That  was  the  state  of  things  when  the  Congressional  policy  sent  five 
armies  into  the  Southern  States,  when  ten  Governors  were  deposed 
by  the  paramount  authority  of  the  military  power.  *  *  *  The 
property,  the  life,  and  the  liberty  of  this  people  are  placed  at  the 
control  of  the  military  authority  ;  and  this  is  a  policy  that  is  called 
a  policy  of  reconstruction,  of  restoration,  and  this  you  claim  to  be 
done  under  the  guarantee  clause  which  directs  this  Government  to 
guarantee  to  each  State  a  republican  form  of  government !  You  find 
no  other  point  in  the  Constitution  where  you  can  stand.  There  is  not 
a,  rock  in  the  Constitution  large  enough  for  your  feet  to  stand  upon 
except  this  one,  that  it  is  your  duty  to  guarantee  a  republican  form  of 
government  to  these  States ;  and  in  the  exercise  of  that  power,  in  the 
discharge  of  that  duty,  you  establish  a  military  rule  and  despotism 

97 


4  THOMAS    A     HENDRICKS. 

which  is  defined  in  the  language  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
declaring  the  offenses  of  the  British  Crown  toward  the  Colonies. 

"  This  is  all  under  the  pretext  of  the  guarantee  clause.  *  *  *  I 
had  some  respect  for  it  when  it  was  claimed  as  under  the  military 
authority  of  the  President,  because  when  you  say  it  is  a  military 
necessity  I  do  not  know  any  answer  to  that.  Military  necessity  has 
no  reply  except  obedience ;  but  to  say  to  an  intelligent  people  that 
you  are  guaranteeing  a  republican  form  of  goveftiment  to  States, 
when  you  are  subjecting  all  the  legitimate  and  rightful  authority  of 
their  State  governments  to  military  rule,  is,  in  my  humble  judgment, 
an  insult  to  an  intelligent  people. 

"  I  know  the  answer  to  this  very  well ;  that  your  establishment 
in  the  Southern  States  is  only  provisional ;  that  it  is  only  to*last  for 
a  little  time;  and  that  out  of  its  ruins  there  will  'spring  up  phoenix- 
like  to  Jove,'  republican  forms  of  government.  You  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  free  institutions  on  the  solid  rock  of  despotism,  and  expect 
it  to  grow  up  to  a  beautiful  structure.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  doc- 
trine that  you  can  do  wrong  and  expect  good  to  follow.  I  believe  in 
the  doctrine  that  good  is  the  result  of  good,  and  that  from  a  pure  foun- 
tain. *  *  * 

"  Mr.  President,  my  colleague  has  spoken  of  a  column — the  col- 
umn of  Congressional  Keconstruction — and  has  said  that  '  it  is  not 
hewn  of  a  single  stone,  but  is  composed  of  many  blocks.'  Sir,  I 
think  he  is  right.  Its  foundation  is  the  hard  flint-stone  of  military 
rule,  brought  from  the  quarries  of  Austria,  and  upon  that  foundation 
rests  the  block  from  Africa  and  it  is  thence  carried  to  its  topmost 
point  with  fragments  of  our  broken  institutions.  That  column  will 
not  stand.  It  will  fall,  and  its  architects  will  be  crushed  beneath  its 
ruins.  In  its  stead,  the  people  will  uphold  thirty-seven  stately  and 
beautiful  columns,  pure  and  white  as  Parian  marble,  upon  which 
shall  rest  for  ever  the  grand  structure  of  the  American  Union." 

98 


ty  G«D.E.P«r>ae 


HON.  CORNELIUS  COLE, 

SENATOR  FROM  CALIFORNIA 


COK^ELIUS   COLE. 


N  the  year  1800  the  grandparents  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  penetrated  the  wilderness  of  Western  New  York. 
David  Cole,  his  father,  was  at  that  time  twelve  years  old,  and 
Rachel  Townsend,  his  mother,  was  ten ;  the  former  having  been  born 
in  ~New  Jersey,  and  the  latter  in  Dutchess  County,  New  York. 

Cornelius  Cole  was  born  in  Seneca  County,  New  York,  September 
17,  1822.  He  was  afforded  such  educational  facilities  as  the  thrifty 
fanners  of  New  York  were  accustomed  feo  give  their  sons. 

When  he  was  about  seventeen  years  old,  a  practical  surveyor 
moved  into  the  neighborhood  and  proposed  to  instruct  some  of  the 
boys  in  his  art.  Flint's  "  Treatise  on  Surveying  "  was  procured,  and 
in  eighteen  days  young  Cole,  without  assistance,  went  through  it ; 
working  out  every  problem,  and  making  a  copy  of  each  in  a  book 
prepared  for  that  purpose. 

In  the  following  spring,  the  instructor  having  died,  young  Cole 
entered  into  practice  as  his  successor,  executing  surveys  in  the  coun- 
try about. 

It  was  after  this  that  he  began  in  earnest  preparation  for  college ; 
first  in  the  Ovid  Academy,  and  afterwards  at  the  Genesee  Wesleyan 
Seminary. 

He  spent  one  year  at  Geneva  College,  but  the  balance  of  his  col- 
legiate course  was  passed  at  the  Wesleyan  University  in  Connecti- 
cut, where  he  was  graduated  in  the  full  course  in  1847.  After  a  little 
respite  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  law,  in  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  and  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  State  at  Oswego, 
on  the  1st  of  May,  1848. 

After  so  many  years  of  close  application,  recreation  was  needed, 
99 


2  CORNELIUS    COLE. 

and  an  opportunity  for  it  was  presented  by  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
California.  On  the  12th  of  February,  1849,  he,  in  company  with  a 
few  friends,  left  his  native  town  for  a  journey  across  the  continent. 
On  the  24th  of  April,  the  party,  consisting  of  seven,  crossed  the  fron- 
tier of  Missouri  and  entered  upon  the  open  plains. 

At  Fort  Laramie  the  wagons  of  the  company  were  abandoned,  and 
the  rest  of  the  journey  was  made  with,  pack  and  saddle  animals  alone ; 
arriving  at  Sacramento  City,  then  called  the  Embarcadero,  on  the 
24th  of  July.  After  a  few  days  of  rest,  he  returned  to  the  gold  mines 
in  El  Dorado  County,  and  worked  with  good  success  till  winter, 
often  washing  out  over  a  hundred  dollars  a  day.  When  the  rainy 
season  set  in,  he  first  visited  San  Francisco,  and  in  the  following 
spring  began  the  practice  of  law  there.  While  absent  in  the  Atlan- 
tic States  in  1851,  two  most  destructive  fires  visited  that  city,  and  he 
returned  to  find  himself  without  so  much  as  a  law  book  or  paper 
upon  which  to  write  a  complaint.  He  visited  some  friends  at  Sacra- 
mento, and  unexpectedly  becoming  engaged  in  law  business,  opened 
an  office  there. 

Though  he  had  been  active  in  the  political  campaign  of  1848,  on 
the  free-soil  side,  he  took  little  or  no  part  in  politics  in  California 
beyond  freely  expressing  his  anti-slavery  opinions,  until  his  law  busi- 
ness became  entangled  in  it  in  this  way :  certain  negroes  had  been 
brought  out  from  Mississippi,  and  having  earned  much  money  for 
their  master,  were  discharged  with  their  freedom.  Afterwards  they 
were  seized  by  some  ruffians,  with  the  purpose  of  taking  them  back 
to  slavery.  Cole  unhesitatingly  undertook  their  defense,  and  thus 
brought  down  upon  himself  at  once  the  hostility  not  only  of  the 
claimants  but  of  all  their  sympathizers,  from  the  highest  officers  of 
the  State  down  to  the  lowest  dregs  of  society.  California  was  at 
that  time  as  fully  subject  to  the  slave  power  as  any  portion  of  the 
Union. 

About  this  period  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  a  young  lady  of 
many  accomplishments,  Miss  Olive  Colegrove,  who  came  from  New 

York,  and  met  him  at  San  Francisco  by  appointment. 

100 


CORNELIUS    COLE.  3 

He  contended  vigorously  with  the  elements  of  opposition  in  his 
profession  until  1856,  when,  the  presidential  campaign  opening,  he 
was  urged  by  the  Fremont  party  to  edit  the  Sacramento  Daily  Times, 
the  organ  of  the  Republicans  for  the  State.  The  paper  was  con- 
ducted to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  party,  and  at  the  same  time 
commanded  the  respect  of  the  Democrats  and  Know-Nothings.  After 
the  election  its  publication  was  suspended,  and  Mr.  Cole  returned  to 
his  profession. 

During  the  following  four  years  he  was  the  California  member  of 
the  Republican  National  Committee  and  an  active  member  of  every 
convention  of  his  party,  always  taking  strong  ground  against  both 
the  Breckenridge  and  Douglas  wings  of  the  opposition,  and  never 
consenting  to  any  party  affiliation  with  either. 

In  1859  he  was  elected  District- Attorney  for  the  city  and  county 
of  Sacramento,  being  about  the  only  Republican  elected  to  any  office 
in  California  that  year. 

His  execution  of  that  office  during  the  two  years  for  which  he  was 
elected  was  in  the  highest  degree  .satisfactory  to  the  people,  and  the 
subject  of  frequent  favorable  comment  by  both  the  courts  and  the 
profession. 

In  1862  he  visited  the  theater  of  the  war.  Before  his  return  to  the 
Pacific  he  had  been  named  for  Congress,  and  the  following  year  was 
elected,  receiving  64,985  votes. 

In  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  he  was  eminently  successful  in  ac- 
complishing results.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Pacific  Railroad  and  of  the  Committee  on  Post-offices  and  Post 
Roads.  As  a  member  of  the  latter  committee,  he  originated  the 
project  for  mail  steamship  service  between  San  Francisco  and  the 
East  Indies,  known  as  the  "  China  Mail  Line."  The  success  of  this 
great  measure  is  universally  conceded  to  be  the  result  of  his  consid- 
erate management.  His  speech  upon  the  subject  was  concise,  and  at 
the  same  time  comprehensive  and  convincing. 

He  delivered  a  speech  in  favor  of  establishing  a  Mining  Depart- 
ment at  Washington,  full  of  argument  and  statistics. 

101 


4  CORNELIUS    COLE. 

In  February,  1864,  when  our  arms  were  in  their  most  depressed 
condition,  he  made  a  very  effective  speech  in  favor  of  arming  the 
slaves. 

Mr.  Cole  was  among  the  most  earnest  advocates  of  the  constitu- 
tional amendment  abolishing  slavery,  and  on  the  28th  January,  1865, 
made  an  effective  speech  in  favor  of  the  measure. 

Mr.  Cole's  first  term  in  Congress  ended  with  the  first  term  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  administration.  In  him  the  war  always  found  a  warm 
supporter,  and  he  enjoyed  in  an  eminent  degree  the  confidence  of  Mr. 
Lincoln.  He  was  not  elected  to  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  but  re- 
turned to  California,  to  be  very  generally  named  for  the  United  States 
Senate  to  succeed  Mr.  McDougall.  In  December,  1865,  he  was 
elected  to  that  high  office,  receiving  on  the  first  balloting  92  votes 
out  of  118,  —  having  been  nominated  in  the  caucus  of.  his  party  on 
the  first  ballot  by  a  vote  of  60  to  31. 

Mr.  Cole's  career  as  a  Senator,  which  has  just  begun,  promises  to 
be  replete  with  useful  service  to  the  country,  watchful  regard  for  the 
interests  of  his  State,  and  honor  to  himself.  He  is  deliberate  in  form- 
ing his  opinions,  as  he  is  firm  in  maintaining  them  when  reached. 

102  *. 


HIICHAHD    VAT'KS 

•:NATOK    KRGM    li.I.INOT; 


EJOHAED   TATES. 


OME  who  were  not  soldiers  in  the  •field,  became  conspicu- 
ous for  their  talents  and  patriotism  amid  the  emergencies 
of  the  recent  civil  war.  Prominent  among  these  was 
Richard  Yates  of  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  Warsaw,  Gallatin  County, 
Kentucky,  in  1818.  In  1831  tie  removed  with  his  father  to  Illinois, 
ajid  settled  in  Springfield.  He  studied  for  one  year  in  Miami  Univer- 
sity, Ohio,  and  subsequently  entered  Illinois  College,  where  he 
graduated  in  1838,  the  first  graduate  in  any  Western  college.  He 
subsequently  studied  law  with  Colonel  John  J.  Hardin,  who  fell  at 
the  head  of  his  regiment  in  the  battle  of  Buena  Yista.  Having 
been  admitted  to  the  bar,  Mr.  Yates  settled  in  the  beautiful  city  of 
Jacksonville,  Illinois,  which  has  since  been  his  home.  In  1842  he 
was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature,  and  served  until  1850. 

In  1850  he  was  nominated  by  a  Whig  Convention  as  a  candidate 
for  Congress,  and  was  elected.  In  March,  1851,  he  took  his  seat  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  the  youngest  member  of  that  body. 
A  change  was  soon  after  made  in  his  district,  which,  it  was  supposed, 
would  secure  a  majority  to  the  opposite  party,  yet  he  was  re-elected 
over  Mr.  John  Calhoun,  a  popular  Democratic  leader. 

The  district  represented  by  Mr.  Yates  included  the  early  home  of 
Senator  Douglas,  where  he  had  taught  school,  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  law.  When  Mr.  Douglas  became  the  author  and  cham- 
pion of  "  Squatter  Sovereignty  "  as  applied  to  the  territories  of  Kan- 
sas and  Nebraska,  his  old  friends  warmly  espoused  the  doctrine, 
partly  through  local  pride  and  personal  attachment  to  its  author.  The 
consequence  was  that,  in  1854,  Mr.  Yates,  who  had  opposed  the  "Ne- 
braska Bill,"  was  defeated  as  a  candidate  for  re-election  to  Congress. 

103 


2  RICHARD    YATES. 

He  subsequently  devoted  himself  for  several  years  to  the  practice 
of  his  profession  and  to  the  duties  of  president  of  a  railroad.  This 
interval  of  private  life  is  looked  back  upon  by  himself  and  his  friends 
as  the  happiest  and  most  prosperous  period  o£  his  career.  Living  in 
the  midst  of  a  community  the  most  moral  and  intellectual  of  any  in 
the  West,  surrounded  by  a  young  and  interesting  family  to  whose 
happiness  he  was  devoted,  and  by  whom  he  was  ardently  beloved,  he 
passed  a  few  years,  which  were  the  happiest  of  his  life. 

His  family  and  near  personal  friends  were  reluctant  to  have  Mr. 
Tates  enter  again  upon  political  life,  but  his  patriotic  impulses  and 
his  ambition  to  mingle  in  more  stirring  sceneaf  induced  him  to  accept 
the  nomination  for  Governor  of  Illinois  in  1860.  He  had  long  been 
a  devoted  personal  and  political  friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  most 
gladly  threw  the  power  of  his  eloquence  and  the  weight  of  his  influ- 
ence to  promote  his  elevation  to  the  presidential  chair.  As  both  the 
leading  candidates  for  the  presidency  were  citizens  of  Illinois,  the 
contest  in  that  State  was  especially  interesting  and  exciting.  The 
result,  however,  could  not  be  doubtful,  and  Richard  Yates  was  in- 
augurated as  Governor  of  Illinois  at  Springfield  a  few  weeks  i>efore 
Abraham  Lincoln  took  the  oath  of  ofiice  in  Washington. 

The  inaugural  address  of  Governor  Yates  was  a  most  eloquent 
protest  against  the  gigantic  treason  of  South  Carolina  and  other 
seceding  States.  Freshly  crowned  with  the  suffrages  of  a  great  State, 
his  voice  was  heard  throughout  the  Union  as  a  truthful  utterance  of 
the  people  of  the  Northwest.  "  On  the  question  of  the  Union  of 
these  States,"  said  he,  "  all  our  people  will  be  a  unit.  The  foot  of 
the  traitor  has  never  yet  blasted  the  green  sward  of  Illinois.  All  the 
running  waters  of  the  Northwest  are  waters  of  freedom  and  Union, 
and  come  what  will,  as  they  glide  to  the  great  Gulf,  they  will  ever, 
by  the  ordinance  of  '87  and  by  the  higher  ordinance  of  Almighty 
God,  bear  only  free  men  and  free  tvade  upon  their  bosoms,  or  their 
channels  will  be  filled  with  the  c*mingled  blood  of  traitors,  cowards, 
and  slaves ! " 

The  rebellion  soon  assumed  proportions  more  immense,  and  the 
104 


RICHARD    YATES.  3 

eloquent  utterances  of  Governor  Yates  were  put  to  a  practical  test. 
On  the  15th  of  April,  1861,  the  Secretary  of  War  issued  an  order 
requiring  the  Governor  of  Illinois  to  contribute  six  regiments  to  make 
up  the  force  of  75,000  men  called  out  by  the  President's  first  procla- 
mation. 

On  the  day  the  Governor  received  the  call  of  the  War  Department, 
he  issued  a  proclamation  for  a  special  session  of  the  Legislature  to 
provide  the  sinews  of  war. 

Within  ten  days  after  the  proclamation  of  Governor  Tates  was 
published,  more  than  ten  thousand  men  had  offered  their  services. 
The  work  of  enlistment  still  went  on,  and  disappointment  was  every- 
where caressed  that  the  services  of  more  men  could  not  be  accepted. 

Cairo  being  a  point  of  great  strategic  importance,  situated  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and  commanding  both  rivers, 
it  was  deemed  important  that  it  should  at  once  be  possessed  and 
fortified  by  a  Federal  force.  On  the  19th  of  April  Governor  Yates 
ordered  General  Swift,  of  the  State  Militia,  to  take  possession  of 
Cairo.  Forty-eight  hours  after  the  reception  of  this  order,  that 
officer  left  Chicago  with  four  six-pounders  and  495  men.  On  the 
morning  of  the  23d  this  force  took  possession  of  Cairo,  which  proved 
a  most  valuable  military  position  during  the  war.  It  was  fortunate 
for  the  country  that  this  movement  was  made  so  promptly.  A  brief 
delay  might  have  enabled  the  enemy  to  carry  out  their  cherished  pur- 
pose of  waging  the  war  upon  Northern  soil. 

The  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  were  then  thronged  with  steam- 
boats engaged  in  the  "  Southern  trade,"  and  laden  to  the  water's  edge 
with  Cincinnati  dry  goods,  Northern  produce,  and  Galena  lead. 
The  occupation  of  Cairo  enabled  Governor  Yates  to  do  a  service  to 
the  Union  by  stopping  this  "  aid  and  comfort"  to  the  rebellion.  The 
Governor  having  received  information  that  the  steamers  O.  E.  Hitt- 
man  and  John  D.  Perry  were  about  to  leave  St.  Louis  with  military 
stores,  he  inaugurated  the  blockade  of  the  Mississippi  by  telegraph- 
ing to  Colonel  Prentiss,  commanding  at  Cairo,  "  Stop  said  boats,  and 

seize  all  arms  and  munitions."     The  command  was  promptly  and 

105 


4  RICHARD    YATES. 

successfully  obeyed,  and  all  the  strength  which  the  commerce  of  the 
Mississippi  and  Ohio  Rivers  would  have  given  to  the  rebel  cause  was 
at  once  cut  off. 

The  War  Department  required  but  six  regiments  of  soldiers  from 
Illinois,  and  two  hundred  companies  were  ready  and  eager  to  be 
accepted.  Governor  Yates  urged  and  finally  secured  the  acceptance 
of  four  additional  regiments.  The  disasters  of  the  summer  of  1861 
aroused  the  General  Government  to  a  sense  of  the  real  danger  of  the 
country,  and  the  necessity  of  a  large  army  for  putting  down  the 
rebellion. 

Illinois  had  nobly  responded  to  the  enlarged  demands.  By  the 
close  of  1861  Governor  Yates  had  sent  to  the  field  more  tlmn  forty- 
three  thousand  men,  and  had  in  camps  of  instruction  seventeen  thou- 
sand more. 

President  Lincoln  having  on  the  6th  of  July,  1862,  called  for  three 
hundred  thousand  additional  volunteers,  Governor  Yates  replied : 
"  Illinois,  already  alive  with  beat  of  drum  and  the  tramp  of  new 
recruits,  will  respond  to  your  call." 

To  the  honor  of  Illinois  it  is  to  be  recorded,*  that  in  the  busiest 
season  of  the  year,  only  eleven  days  were  required  to  enlist  more 
than  fifty 'thousand  men  for  the  service  of  the  country. 

When  the  time  arrived  for  the  election  of  members  for  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  for  1863-4,  there  were  at  least  one  hundred  thousand 
voters  of  Illinois  absent  ff  om  the  State,  in  the  service  of  the  country. 
The  consequence  was  the  election  of  a  Legislature  with  a  majority 
opposed  to  the  war  for  putting  down  the  rebellion.  It  was  in  vain 
that  the  Governor  recommended  measures  calculated  to  sustain  and 
reinforce  the  soldiers  of  Illinois  already  in  the  field ;  in  vain  that  he 
pleaded  the  necessity  of  providing  and  appropriating  means  for  sus- 
taining the  financial  and  military  credit  of  the  State.  The  Legisla- 
ture was  not  possessed  of  the  patriotic  impulses  which  moved  the 
Governor  and  those  who  had  responded  to  his  call.  Their  time  was 
wasted  in  unprofitable  attention  to  other  interests  than  those  of  the 

country  in  the  great  emergency  which  was  upon  her. 

106 


RICHARD    YATES.  5 

In  June,  1863,  a  disagreement  having  occurred  between  the  two 
houses  as  to  the  time  of  final  adjournment,  the  Governor,  in  the  ex- 
ercise of.  a  power  placed  in  his  hands  by  the  constitution,  prorogued 
the  General  Assembly  to  the  31st  of  December,  1864,  the  day  when 
its  existence  would  terminate  by  law. 

The  people  approved  this  brave  and  patriotic  movement  of  their 
Governor,  and  in  the  following  year  elected-  a  Legislature  in  sympa- 
thy with  the  country,  and  in  harmony  with  the  soldiers  who  were 
fighting  her  battles. 

This  Legislature,  elected  Kichard  Yates  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States — a  suitable  reward  to  one  whose  ability  and  patriotism  had 
contributed  so  largely  to  the  honor  of  Illinois.  During  his  adminis- 
tration- a  peaceful  agricultural  State,  with  scarcely  a  professional 
soldier  within  her  limits,  had  grown  to  be  one  of  the  mightiest  mili- 
tary commonwealths  in  history.  Her  army  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  men,  raised  during  the  administration  of  Governor  Yates, 
from  the  farms  and  shops  of  Illinois,  was  unsurpassed  in  effectiveness 
and  valor.  It  was  partly  owing  to  the  pride  which  the  Governor 
took  in  the  advancement  of  the  soldiers  of  his  State  that  so  many  of 
them  had  risen  to  high  and  distinguished  rank  as  officers  of  the 
army.  With  honest  pride  the  Governor  said  in  his  final  message : 
"  In  response  to  calls  for  troops  the  State  stands  pre-eminently  in  the 
lead  among  her  loyal  sisters,  and  every  click  of  the  telegraph  heralds 
the  perseverance  of  Illinois  generals  and  the  indomitable  courage  and 
bravery  of  Illinois  sons  in  every  engagement  of  the  war.  The  his- 
tory of  the  war  is  brilliant  with  recitations  of  the  skill  and  powers  of 
our  general,  field,  staff,  and  line  officers.  The  list  of  promotions  from 
the  field  and  staff  officers  of  our  regiments  to  lieutenant  and  major- 
generals  for  gallant  conduct  and  the  pre-requisites  for  efficient  Ad 
successful  command,  compare  brilliantly  with  the  names  supplied  by 
all  other  States ;  and  the  patient,  vigilant,  and  tenacious  record  made 
by  our  veteran  regiments  in  the  camp,  on  the  march,  and  in  the  field, 
is  made  a  subject  of  praise  by  the  whole  country,  and  will  be  the 
theme  for  poets  and  historians  of  all  lands  for  all  time." 

107 


6  RICHARD    YATES. 

Mr.  Yates  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1865,  in  time  to  aid  in  the  complete  restoration  of  the 
.Union  he  had  elsewhere  assisted  to  save. 

He  immediately  took  rank  among,  the  foremost  of  those  who  have 
been  denominated  "Radicals."  He  announced  himself  as  standing 
upon  the  broad  principle  "  that  all  citizens,  without  distinction  of 
race,  color,  or  condition,  should  be  protected  in  the  enjoyment  and 
exercise  of  all  their  civil  and  political  rights."  His  faith  in  the  final 
triumph  of  this  principle  was  unwavering.  On  the  14th  of  February, 
1866,  Mr.  Yates  pronounced  a  speech  of  three  'hours'  duration  on  a 
proposed  Constitutional  Amendment  changing  the  basis  of  represen- 
tation. "  It  is  too  late,"  he  eloquently  said  on  that  occasion,  "  it  is 
too  late  to  change  the  tide  of  human  progress." 

Mr.  Yates  is  one  of  the  most  popular  orators  of  the  country.  Im- 
pelled by  a  warm  humanitarianism  and  glowing  imagination,  he  passes 
rapidly  by  dry  technicalities  and  abstract  theories  to  those  grand 
and  glowing  deductions  which  the  patriot  delights  to  contemplate. 
He  possesses  a  melodious  voice,  a  graceful  manner,  with  a  ready  and 
even  rapid  utterance.  In  person  he  is  of  medium  hight,  with  a  face 
which  in  his  early  years  possessed  a  beauty  quite  uncommon  among 
men  of  mark. 

108 


iTAHLKS  iJJ'^^A 

TCl'  F'r-OU  MISSOUHJ 


OHAELES   D.    DEAXE. 


E  border  States,  upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion, 
were  for  a  time  the  scene  of  severe  conflicts  between  loy- 
alty and  treason ;  and  during  the  whole  progress  of  the 
war,  only  the  presence  of  the  military  power  of  the  Government 
secured  the  supremacy  of  the  former.  This  condition  of  things 
brought  out  into  prominence  many  men  who  had  before  taken  little 
part  in  public  aifairs,  and  who  did  not  enter  the  military  service. 
Among  these  was  Charles  D.  Drake,  of  Missouri.  He  was  born  in 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  the  llth  of  April,  1811,  being  the  son  of  Daniel 
Drake,  M.D.,  of  that  city,  for  many  years  eminent  as  a  practitioner 
and  teacher  of  medicine.  ^ 

Mr.  Drake's  education  was  mainly  received  in  the  ordinary  schools 
of  the  West.  The  only  institutions  of  a  higher  grade  which  he 
attended  were  St.  Joseph  College,  Bardstown,  Kentucky,  and 
Captain  Partridge's  Military  Academy,  Middletown,  Connecticut. 
While  at  the  latter,  in  April,  1827,  he  was  appointed  a  Midshipman 
in  the  Navy,  and  in  the  following  November  entered  upon  active 
duty,  and  remained  in  the  Navy  until  January,  1830,  when  he 
retired  from  the  service  and  began  the  study  of  the  law.  He  was 
admitted  to  the  Cincinnati  bar  in  1833,  and  the  next  year  removed 
to  St.  Louis,  then  a  town  of  seven  thousand  five  hundred  inhabitants. 

In  1838,  he  originated  the  St.  Louis  Law  Library,  now  one  of  the 
most  valuable  in  the  country,  and  for  more  than  twenty-one  years 
was  one  of  its  Directors. 

Mr.  Drake's  first  appearance  in  public  life  was  in  1859,  when  he 
was  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Missouri,  to  fill  a 

vacancy. 

109 


2  CHARLES    D.   DRAKE. 

In  1860,  he,  for  the  first  time  since  1844,  took  part  in  politics, 
espousing  the  cause  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  the  Presidency,  as  a 
means  of  preventing  the  Electoral  vote  of  Missouri  from  being  cast 
for  John  C.  Breckinridge.  In  August  of  that  year,  he  delivered  a 
speech  at  Yictoria,  in  which  the  treasonable  designs  of  the  Southern 
States  were  exposed  and  denounced,  and  which,  it  was  generally  con- 
ceded, was  the  means  of  gaining  the  vote  of  Missouri  for  Mr. 
Douglas. 

From  the  secession  of  South  Carolina,  Mr.  Drake's  course  was 
open  and  pronounced  against  secession  and  rebellion.  By  speech 
and  pen  he  labored  for  the  Union  cause,  and  it  was  in  connection 
with  those  labors  that  he  became  prominent  in  Missouri  and  before 
the  country. 

In  January,  1861,  he  delivered  a  speech  in  the  Hall  of  Represen- 
tatives of  Missouri,  in 'the  presence  of  many  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature who  were  then  plotting  the  secession  of  Missouri ;  in  which 
he  took  the  highest  ground  of  unconditional  loyalty  to  the  Constitu 
tion  and  the  Union. 

On  the  following  Fourth  of  July  he  delivered  an  elaborately  pre- 
pared speech  at  Louisiana,  Mo.,  upon  all  the  issues  of  the  hour ; 
which  was  extensively  published  at  the  time,  and  wns  preserved  in 
the  "Rebellion  Record."  The  concluding  words  of  this  speech  were 
as  follows : 

"  We  are  lost  if  our  Constitution  is  overthrown.  Thenceforward 
we  may  bid  farewell  to  liberty.  Never  were  truer  or  greater  words 
uttered  by  an  American  statesman,  than  when  Daniel  Webster  closed 
his  great  speech  in  defense  of  the  Constitution,  nearly  thirty  years 
ago,  with  that  sublime  exclamation :  '  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and 
for  ever,  one  and  inseparable!'  Union  gave  us  liberty,  disunion 
would  take  it  away.  He  who  strikes  at  the  Union,  strikes  at  the 
heart  of  the  Nation.  Shall  not  the  Nation  defend  its  life  ?  And 
when  the  children  of  the  Union  come  to  its  rescue,  shall  they  be 
denounced  ?  And  if  denounced,  will  they  quail  before  the  mere 
breath  of  the  Union's  foes  ?  For  one,  I  shrink  .not  from  any  words 

110 


CHAELES    D.    DRAKE.  3 

of  man,  save  those  which  would  justly  impute  to  me  disloyalty  to  the 
Union  and  the  Constitution.  My  country  is  all  to  me ;  but  it  is  no 
country  without  the  Constitution  which  has  exalted  and  glorified  it. 
For  the  preservation  of  that  Constitution  I  shall  not  cease  to  struggle ; 
and  my  life-long  prayer  will  be,  GOD  SAVE  THE  AMERICAN  UNION  ! " 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1862,  he  delivered,  in  St.  Louis,  an 
Address,  in  which  he  denounced  Slavery  as  the  cause  of  the  rebellion, 
and  used  these  words : 

"  Let  it  once  be  manifest  that  we  are  shut  up  to  choose  between 
our  noble  country,  with  its  priceless  Constitution,  and  Slavery,  then, 
with  every  fiber  of  my  heart  and  every  energy  of  my  nature,  I  will 
pass  along  the  universal  cry  of  all  patriots — Down  with  Slavery  for 
ever !  I  would  then  no  more  hesitate  which  to  choose,  than,  in  view 
of  death,  I  would  balance  between  eternal  life  and  eternal  perdition."  t 

This  Address  was  followed,  at  intervals,  by  others,  during  the 
progress  of  the  rebellion,  exposing  its  true  character  and  aims,  and 
denouncing  Slavery  as  its  sole  cause.  They  were  all  gathered  and 
published  in  a  volume  in  1864. 

In  1863,  Mr.  Drake  was  elected  a  member,  from  St.  Louis,  of  the 
Missouri  State  Convention,  which  was  constituted  in  1861,  and  which 
re-assembled  in  June,  1863,  in  pursuance  of  a  proclamation  of  the 
Governor  of  the  State,  "  to  consult  and  act  upon  the  subject  of  the 
emancipation  of  slaves."  In  that  body  he  took  ground  in  favor  of 
immediate  emancipation ;  but  the  Convention  adopted  a  scheme  so 
gradual  as  hardly  to  terminate  Slavery  before  the  year  1900.  Mr. 
Drake,  in  a  vigorous  canvass,  assailed  it  before  the  people ;  whence 
followed  the  rise  of  the  "  Radical "  party  in  Missouri,  of  which  he 
has  for  more  than  five  years  been  the  acknowledged  leader. 

In  September,  1863,  a  delegation  of  seventy  men  from  all  parts 
of  Missouri  visited  President  Lincoln  at  Washington,  to  inform  him 
of  the  actual  condition  of  parties  and  aifairs  in  Missouri.  Mr.  Drake 
was  chairman  of  that  body.  Its  address  to  the  President  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  people,  and  gave  no  inconsiderable  impulse  to 
Radicalism  in  all  the  loyal  States. 
Ill 


4  CHARLES    D.    DRAKE. 

In  February,  1864,  a  Freedom  Convention  was  held  in  Louisville, 
Ky.,  which  Mr.  Drake  attended,  and  which  he  addressed  on  Washing 
ton's  Birth-day,  in  a  speech  which  attracted  much  notice  and  com 
mendation  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The  following  are  the 
concluding  words  of  that  address : 

"  The  issue,  upon  one  side  or  the  other,  of  which  every  man  in  the 
nation  must  be  ranged,  is  fully  made  up,  between  that  Radicalism 
which  will  venture  all,  do  all,  and  brave  all  for  the  Union  and 
Freedom,  and  that  Conservatism  which,  assuming  loyalty,  hangs 
back  from  the  advanced  positions  of  patriotism  ;  professes  enmity  to 
Slavery,  and  yet  cringes  to  it ;  avows  hostility  to  treason,  and  yet 
counts  traitors  for  partisan  ends ;  ever  finds  something  strong  and 
resolute,  which  it  were  wise  not  to  venture — somethipg  prompt  and 
effective,  that  had  better  not  be  done — something  daring  and  aggres- 
sive, which  it  is  discretion  not  to  be  brave ;  and  is  content  to  stake 
Jess  than  all  for  country,  that  it  may  more  cheaply  win  all  for  itself. 
When  between  two  such  forces  the  country's  safety  hangs,  it  is  time 
that  the  banner  of  Radicalism  were  unfurled  beyond  the  narrow 
limits  of  Missouri.  The  nation  should  behold  it.  Why  not  raise  it 
here  ?  And  why  not  on  this  birth-day  of  Washington !  Is  there 
any  better  place  or  day  ?  We  have  come  to  fling  it  to  the  breeze, 
and  to  plant  it  in  the  front  rank,  and  we  will  do  it.  It  is  no  paltry 
ensign  of  sectionalism,  no  drabbled  banner  of  party,  but  the  grand 
old  standard  of  the  Republic,  with  every  broad  stripe  still  firm  and 
unstained ;  and  look !  with  one  more  star  in  its  azure  field,  than  when 
treason  struck  at  the  beaming  constellation ;  and  that  one  riven, 
with  her  own  blood-stained  hand,  from  once  brilliant,  now  poor,  dis- 
membered, fallen  '  Old  Virginia  ! '  And  see !  its  spreading  folds 
reveal  an  inscription,  inwoven  in  letters  of  gold,  flashing  in  the 
orient  sunlight !  What  are  the  words  ?  Read  them,  ye  downcast 
and  oppressed,  for  they  speak  hope  and  cheer  to  you ;  read  them, 
friends  of  Freedom,  for  they  tell  you  of  a  brighter  day  ;  read  them, 
champions  of  Slavery,  for  they  proclaim  your  discomfiture ;  read  them, 
traitors,  for  they  thunder  anathemas  to  you,-  as  they  say — *  The  Union 

112 


CHARLES    D.    DRAKE.  5 

without  a  slave;  the  Constitution  amended  to  forbid  Slavery  for 
ever ;  and  the  arras  of  the  Nation  to  uphold  that  Union  and  that 
Constitution  to  the  latest  generation  ! '  ' 

In  November,  1864,  a  new  convention  was  elected  in  Missouri,  to 
revise  and  amend  the  constitution  of  that  State,  and  Mr.  Drake  was 
chosen  one  of  its  members  from  St.  Louis  County,  and  upon  its 
assembling,  in  January,  1865,  was  made  its  vice  president,  and  soon 
became  its  acknowledged  leader.  By  that  body  slavery  in  Missouri 
was  abolished  on  the  llth  of  that  month.  The  convention  was  in 
session  three  months,  and  formed  the  present  constitution  of  that 
State.  In  its  formation  so  large  a  part  was  taken  by  Mr.  Drake  that 
he  became  more  prominently  identified  with  it  than  any  other  member 
of  that  body. 

Mr.  Drake  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in  January, 
1867,  and  took  his  seat  in  that  body  on  the  ensuing  4th  of  March. 

In  the  subsequent  consideration  of  the  measures  of  reconstruction, 
he  took  a  decidedly  Radical  stand ;  as,  indeed,  he  had  at  all  times 
taken  on  all  questions  relating  to  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion. 
His  resolute  adherence  to  Radical  principles  and  policies  was  expressed 
in  a  published  letter  to  Reverdy  Johnson  in  November,  1867,  in  which 
he  said : 

"  Here,  Senator,  at  the  close,  as  in  the  outset,  we  diverge.  Cling, 
if  you  please,  to  purblind,  droning,  effete  conservatism,  and  drift  with 
it  into  the  realms  of  the  rejected  and  forgotten  ;  but  I  will  hold  on  to 
living,  clear-sighted,  resolute,  and  progressive  Radicalism,  be  its 
fate  what  it  may.  If  Americans,  in  this  the  meridian  of  their  military 
renown,  have  not  courage,  persistence,  and  nerve  to  uphold  such 
Radicalism  as  upheld  and  saved  their  country  in  the  day  of  its 
deadliest  peril,  they  will  only  exhibit  a  dishonoring  example  of  a 
people  unsurpassed  in  martial  valor  and  achievement,  but  too  timid 
for  great  civil  conflicts,  too  feeble  for  sharp  moral  exigencies,  too  fickle 
for  earnest  struggles  for  the  right,  and  too  small  for  the  mold  of  a 
grand  and  noble  destiny." 

Participating  in  the  discussion  of  the  Supplementary  Reconstruc- 
113 


6  CHARLES    D.    DRAKE. 

tion  bill  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Drake  earnestly  advocated  the  substitu- 
tion of  voting  by  ballot  for  the  method  which  had  prevailed  through 
out  the  South  of  voting  viva  voce,  and  said  : 

"  Once  get  the  mode  of  voting  by  ballot  fairly  into  the  hands  of  a 
majority  of  the  people  down  there,  and  they  will  be  very  likely  to 
take  care  of  it ;  but  what  I  want  is,  that  while  this  nation  is  under- 
taking to  reconstruct  these  States  upon  the  principle  of  loyalty  to  the 
Union,  upon  the  principle  of  'protecting  the  loyal  people,  the  work 
shall  be  done  thoroughly.  Sir,  I  came  from  a  State  where  we  have 
dealt  with  this  rebellion  in  some  of  its  foulest  aspects ;  and  we  have 
learned  there,  through  a  long  and  bitter  experience,  that  the  only  way 
to  deal  with  it  is  to  apply  the  knife  deep  and  strong  down  to  the  very 
fibers  of  the  roots,  leave  not  a  single  atom  in  which  to  germinate  a 
future  rebellion.  I  came  here,  Sir — I  do  not  hesitate  to  avow  in  open 
Senate  on  the  first  occasion  when  I  have  undertaken  to  address  this 
august  body,  that  I  came  here  as  a  representative,  not  of  a  conserva- 
tive radicalism,  but  of  a  radical-  radicalism,  which  believes  in  doing, 
and  not  in  half  doing." 

114 


f 

SENATOR  FROM  OREGON. 


HEEET    W,  OOEBETT. 


JENRY  W.  CORBETT  was  born  at  Westboro,  Massachu- 
setts, February  18, 182Y.  His  father,  Elijah  Corbett,  estab- 
lished one  of  the  first  ax  manufactories  in  Massachusetts. 
In  1832,  he  removed  to  White  Creek3  New  York,  and  subsequently 
settled  in  the  town  of  Jackson,  Washington  County,  New  York.  At 
the  age  of  thirteen,  Henry  entered  upon  a  clerkship  in  a  store  at 
Cambridge,  New  York,  on  a  salary  of  fifty  dollars  a  year.  Here  he 
remained  two  years,  and  about  nine  months  of  the  time  attended  the 
Cambridge  Academy.  The  following  year  he  was  a  clerk  in  the 
establishment  of  Proudfit  &  Fitch,  Salem,  Washington  County,  New 
York. 

In  the  spring  of  1843,  he  went  to  New  York  City  with  letters  of 
recommendation  from  his  former  employers,  to  enter  upon  a  new 
life  in  the  great  metropolis.  After  much  effort,  he  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining a  situation  in  a  retail  dry-goods  store,  his  salary  being  $3  50 
per  week,  out  of  which  he  paid  his  board,  and  slept  on  the  counter. 
After  remaining  in  this  position  for  one  year,  he  succeeded  in  obtain- 
ing a  situation  in  a  wholesale  dry-goods  store  in  Cedar  Street, 
New  York,  where  he  continued  as  long  as  the  firm  remained  in  trade. 
In  the  fall  of  1855,  he  was  offered  a  situation  in  the  dry-goods  house 
of  Williams,  Bradford  &  Co.  He  remained  with  this  firm  until  he 
conceived  the  idea  of  shipping  a  stock  of  goods  to  the  Territory  of 
Oregon.  In  the  fall  of  1850,  he  informed  his  employers  that  he  desired 
to  embark  in  this  enterprise ;  and  he  proposed  to  them,  if  they  would 
join  him  in  the  enterprise,  he  would  divide  the  profits  with  them. 
They  inquired  ol  him  what  he  knew  of  the  country  and  its  prospects. 

115 


2  HENRY    W.    CORBETT. 

They  found  him  thoroughly  informed  on  all  points,  and  so  implicitly 
did  they  believe  in  the  success  of  any  enterprise  that  his  judgment 
approved,  that  they  at  once  furnished  him  with  a  stock  of  goods,  and 
cash  to  the  amount  of  $24,000 — a  large  amount  of  credit  for  a  young 
man  whose  capital  amounted  to  only  $1,000,  from  his  savings.  After 
an  absence  of  a  year  and  a  half,  he  returned  to  New  York,  repaid  the 
$24,000— then  divided  his  profits  of  $20,000  with  those  who  assisted 
him.  He  was  offered  a  co-partnership  with  his  friends  in  New  York, 
which  he  declined. 

In  February,  1853,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Cara  E.  Jagger,  of 
Albany,  New  York ;  and  in  the  following  May  he  returned  to  Port- 
land, Oregon,  where  he  resumed  his  business,  and  was  greatly  pros- 
pered. 

He  now  has  an  extensive  wholesale  hardware  house  m  Portland, 
having  two  resident  partners  in  that  place,  and  one  in  New  York. 
All  his  business  enterprises  have  been  attended  with  marked  success, 
which  his  strict  integrity  and  untiring  energy  have  well  deserved. 

Mr.  Corbett  has  been  largely  interested  in  many  of  the  great  enter- 
prises for  the  development  of  Oregon,  such  as  the  establishment  of 
manufactories  of  woolen  goods,  the  erection  of  furnaces  for  the  manu- 
facture of  iron,  and  the  building  of  steamboats. 

In  1866,  he  took  the  contract  for  carrying  the  daily  mail  from 
Lincoln,  California,  to  Portland,  Oregon,  a  distance  of  six  hundred 
and  twenty-four  miles,  stocked  the  road  with  four-horse  teams  and 
coaches,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  community. 

In  politicsj  Mr.  Corbett  was  in  early  life  a  Whig.  On  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Republican  party  of  Oregon  in  1860,  he  was  chosen 
chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Central  Committee.  The  energy 
with  which  this  campaign  was  conducted,  reduced  the  Democratic 
majority  from  about  twenty-five  hundred  to  thirteen.  Hon.  D.  Logan, 
the  Republican  candidate  for  Congress,  was  defeated  by  only  this  small 
majority. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  Mr.  Corbett  saw  the  importance 
of  uniting  all  loyal  men  under  the  name  of  the  Union  party,  for  the 

116 


HENRY    W.    CORBETT.  3 

purpose  of  crushing  out  the  party  of  Secession  in  the  State.  By  the 
prompt  action  of  the  Republican  Central  Committee  in  making  a 
call,  early  in  1862,  for  all  Union  men  to  join  them  in  a  Convention,  to 
be  held  at  Eugene  City,  the  peril  of  the  State  was  averted.  Mr. 
Corbett  was  an  active  member  of  that  convention,  and  was  instrumen- 
tal in  nominating  a  ticket  that  carried  the  State  by  about  twenty- 
seven  thousand  majority.  During  the  war  he  was  active  in  raising 
money  for  the  Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions,  and  contributed 
liberally  for  these  as  well  as  other  worthy  objects. 

Mr.  Corbett  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  delegates  to  the  Chicago  Con- 
vention of  1860,  that  nominated  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the  Presidency.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Republican  National  Convention  of  1868,  which 
nominated  Grant  and  Colfax. 

Fully  absorbed  in  his  extensive  business,  and  in  his  eiforts  to 
promote  the  success  of  the  Union  party  in  his  State,  Mr.  Corbett 
has  not  been  an  ardent  aspirant  for  political  preferment.  For  some 
years  he  served  the  City  of  Portland  as  a  member  of  its  Council,  and 
held  the  office  of  City  Treasurer.  On  the  29th  of  September,  1866, 
he  was  elected  a  Senator  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  Senate,  Mr.  Corbett  has  devoted  himself  with  conscientious 
faithfulness  to  the  discharge  of  his  important  duties.  He  has  given 
much  patient  thought  to  the  great  financial  questions  which  are  now 
demanding  attention.  On  these  important  topics  he  has  delivered 
several  speeches,  which  are  marked  by  sound  reasoning  and  wise  de- 
ductions. On  the  llth  of  March,  1868,  he  addressed  the  Senate  on  the 
Funding  Bill,  concluding  his  remarks  as  follows  : 

"  When  we  look  to  the  future  of  this  great  Republic,  embracing 
twenty-three  degrees  in  longitude  by  fifty-seven  degrees  of  latitude, 
with  all  varieties  of  climate,  producing  the  most  delicate  and  delicious 
fruits  of  the  South,  with  abundance  of  the  more  substantial  produc- 
tions of  the  temperate  zone,  and  the  hardy  productions  of  the  North — 
when  we  contemplate  this  vast  and  varied  country,  its  climate,  its 
production  for  the  sustenance,  comfort,  and  luxury  of  man,  the  vast 
resources  of  all  its  varied  hidden  riches  of  the  earth,  comprising  metals 

117 


4  HENRY    W.    CORBETT. 

for  all  the  most  substantial  and  useful  arts  of  life,  with  all  the  most 
precious  metals  to  tempt  the  cupidity  of  man ;  test  the  bowels  of  the 
earth,  it  sends  forth  its  fatness  in  living  streams  of  oil  like  the  peren- 
nial fountain ;  add  to  these  our  beds  of  coal,  our  forests  of  timber,  our 
mountains  of  iron,  where  is  its  equal  ?  Have  we  the  capacity  to 
make  them  useful  ?  — who  doubts  it  ?  With  all  the  thousands  of  in- 
ventors, combining  the  greatest  inventive  genius  of  the  world,  we  can 
outstrip  all  other  nations  combined.  A  population  from  every  land 
and  nation  under  the  sun,  a  land  now  happily  free  from  the  oppres- 
sor's rod,  to  be  rebuilt  upon  a  firm  and  enduring  foundation,  made 
sacred  and  cemented  by  the  blood  of  a  million  of  our  noblest  sons. 

"  Therefore,  let  us  not  crown  this  temple,  hewn  by  the  sweat  of  so 
many  brows,  reared  "by  the  blood  of  so  many  brave  lads,  with  the ' 
cap-stone  of  repudiation.  Let  us  do  nothing,  as  a  great  and  noble 
and  suffering  people,  that  shall  detract  from  the  honor  of  those  that 
lie  silent  and  cold  in  their  blood-bought  graves,  with  naught  but 
their  country's  banner  over  them.  To  me,  Mr.  President,  my  duty  is 
plain ;  my  duty  to  the  men  that  came  forward  to  supply  our  suffering 
army,  to  succor  our  noble  boys  in  the  day  of  the  national  darkness 
and  despair,  and  to  the  capitalists  of  Germany,  of  Frankfort,  that 
took  our  securities,  and  spewed  out  the  rebel  bonds,  and  gave  to  us 
money,  the  sinew  of  war,  to  assist  us  in  maintaining  the  life  of  the 
nation.  I  need  not  the  example  of  other  nations  to  tell  me  what  is 
right  between  man  and  man  or  between  nation  and  nation ;  it  needs 
not  the  shrewd  argument  of  a  lawyer  to  tell  me  what  is  due  to  my 
creditor.  If  there  is  any  one  thing  that  I  regard  more  sacred  in  life, 
after  my  duty  to  my  God,  it  is  to  fulfill  all  my  engagements,  both 
written  and  implied,  and  nothing  shall  drive  me  from  this  position. 

"  If  this  be  important  and  right  in  private  affairs,  how  much  more 
important  in  public  affairs." 

118 


-;RDY  JOHNSON, 

SEHATCTR  FBOM  MAKYLANP 


EEYEEDT   JOHNSON. 


TE  of  the  few  remaining  statesmen  of  the  times  who  link 
the  present  with  the  past,  is  BEVERDY  JOHNSON,  Senator 
from  Maryland.  JOHN  JOHNSON,  his  father,  was  an  emi- 
nent lawyer,  who  held  the*  offices  of  Attorney  General,  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  Chancellor  of  Maryland.  His 
mother  was  of  French  ancestry.  The  name  of  her  family, 
REVARDI,  is  perpetuated,  with  a  slight  orthographic  alteration 
in  that  of  her  distinguished  son. 

KEVEBDY  JOHNSON  was  born  in  Annapolis,  Maryland,  May 
21,  1796.  He  entered  the  Primary  Department  of  St.  John's 
College,  in  his  native  town,  when  six  years  old.  Here  he 
pursued  his  studies  for  ten  years..  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
left  the  institution  without  graduating,  yet  having  pursued  a 
thorough  course  of  classical  and  mathematical  training. 

On  leaving  college,  he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law, 
under  the  direction  of  his  father. 

One  day,  as  the  young  law-student  was  poring  over  his 
books,  news  came  that  the  British  were  about  to  make  an 
attack  on  Washington.  The  whole  community  was  aroused, 
and  a  company  of  volunteers  was  hastily  formed  to  aid  in 
defending  the  Capital.  Young  Johnson  joined  them  on  such 
a  sudden  impulse  that  he  did  not  stop  to  put  off  the  slippers 
which  he  wore  in  the  law-office ;  and  the  consequence  was 
that,  before  he  had  marched  half-way  to  Washington,  he 
was  completely  barefoot.  The  company  reached  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Washington  in  time  to  participate  in  the  battle  of 

Bladensburg,  on  the  24th  of  August,  1814.      Soon  after  this 

119 


2  REVERDY     JOHNSON. 

engagement  young  Johnson  was  attacked  with  a  serious  illness, 
which  put  a  sudden  termination  to  his  military  history. 

Having  resumed  his  law  studies,  Reverdy  Johnson  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1815,  and  was  soon  after  appointed 
Deputy  Attorney  General  for  Prince  George's  and  St.  Mary's 
counties. 

In  1817  he  removed  to  Baltimore,  and  while  engaged  in 
an  extensive  practice  of  the  law,  held  the  office  of  Chief  Com- 
missioner of  Insolvent  Debtors. 

In  addition  to  regular  professional  and  official  duties,  he 
was,  during  a  number  of  years,  'partially  occupied  in  the 
literary  labor  of  reporting  judicial  decisions,  which  were  pub- 
lished in  seven  volumes,  under  the  title  of  "  -Johnson's  Mary- 
land Reports." 

In  1821  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  of  Maryland 
for  a  term  of  five  years,  and  was  re-elected  for  a  second  term, 
but  resigned  after  serving  two  years. 

During  twenty  years  which  followed,  he  gave  his  undivided 
attention  to  professional  business.  In  legal  learning  and  skill 
he  reached  a  rank  and  reputation  unsurpassed  in  the  American 
Bar.  He  was  employed  in  arguing  many  important  cases 
before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  His  services 
were  sought  in  distant  portions  of  the  United  States  and  in 
Europe.  He  made  journeys  to  New  Orleans  and  California, 
to  try  important  cases.  On  one  occasion  he  went  to  England, 
as  attorney  in  an  important  case  which  involved  a  heavy  claim 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

In  1833  Mr.  JOHNSON  met  with  an  accident,  which  resulted 
in  a  partial  loss  of  his  eyesight.  Mr.  Stanley,  a  member  of 
Congress  from  North  Carolina,  having  been  challenged  to  fight 
a  duel  by  Henry  A.  Wise,  of  Virginia,  went  to  Mr.  Johnson's 
residence,  near  Baltimore,  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  for  the 
conflict.  He  requested  Mr.  Johnson  to  assist  him  in  some 
preparatory  practice  with  his  pistol.  Mr.  Stanley  succeeding 

120 


EEVERDY     JOHNSON.  3 

very  badly  in  his  practice,  Mr.  Johnson  took  the  pistol,  and 
fired  at  a  small  locust  tree,  about  ten  feet  distant.  He  struck 
the  target,  but  the  ball  rebounded  and  entered  his  left  eye. 
A  surgeon  was  summoned,  and  the  bullet  was  extracted;  but 
the  sight  of  the  eye  was  lost. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  a  Whig  in  politics;  yet, 'when  the  memo- 
rable Presidential  contest  of  1824  was  narrowed  down  to  a 
choice  between  Jackson  and  Adams,  he  favored  the  election  of 
the  former.  He  frankly  told  Mr.  Clay,  whose  warm  friend 
he  was,  that  the  great  political  error  of  his  life  was  casting 
his  influence  for  Adams  instead  of  Jackson. 

In  1845  Mr.  Johnson  was  elected  a  United  States  Senator 
from  Maryland,  and,  differing  from  a  majority  of  his  party,  he 
favored  the  Mexican  war.  On  the  accession  of  General  Taylor 
to  the  Presidency,  in  1849,  Mr.  Johnson  was  appointed  Attor- 
ney General  of  the  United  States,  whereupon  he  resigned  his 
seat  in  the  Senate.  On  the  death  of  President  Taylor,  he 
resigned  his  office,  and  resumed  his  private  practice. 

When  the  wicked  policy  of  the  Southern  leaders  had  led 
the  people  to  the  verge  of  rebellion,  Mr.  Johnson,,  although  in 
private  life,  did  not  fail  to  raise  his  voice  and  use  his  influ- 
ence against  the  heresy  of  secession.  In  December,  1860,  at 
the  close  of  an  argument  before  the  Supreme  Court,  he  pro- 
nounced one  of  the  most  eloquent  eulogies  on  the  Union,  and 
presented  one  of  the  most  thrilling  delineations  of  the  wicked- 
ness and  folly  involved  in  its  overthrow,  to  be  found  in  the 
annals  of  American  oratory. 

On  the  10th  of  January,  1861,  when  Maryland  was  poised 
between  loyalty  and  rebellion,  Mr.  Johnson  addressed  an  assem- 
blage of  many  thousands  of  the  citizens  of  Baltimore,  in  an 
overwhelming  argument  against  the  crime  of  secession.  He 
administered  a  withering  rebuke  to  South  Carolina,  which  he 
characterized  as  "that  gallant  State  of  vast  pretensions,  but 
little  power."  "If,"  said  he,  "the  cannon  maintains  the 

121 


4  REVERDY     JOHNSON. 

honor  of  our  standard,  and  blood  is  shed  in  its  defence,  it 
will  be  because  the  United  States  cannot  permit  its  surrender 
without  indelible  disgrace  and  foul  abandonment  of  duty." 

This  speech  gave  Mr.  Johnson  rank  among  the  foremost 
defenders  of  the  Union.  In  1862  the  Legislature  of  Maryland 
elected  him  as  a' Union  man  to  the  United  States  Senate,  in 
which  he  took  his  seat  in  March,  1863. 

Mr.  Johnson  has  been  one  of  the  most  faithful  and  laborious 
members  of  the  Senate.  He  has  generally  acted  with  the  mi- 
nority, and  yet  has  frequently  shown  that  he  is  not  bound  by 
party  trammels.  In  March,  1864,  he  gave  his  vote  in  favor  of 
the  constitutional  amendment  abolishing  slavery. 

As  a  member  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Reconstruction,  in 
the  Thirty-Ninth  Congress,  he  generally  opposed  the  views  of 
the  majority  and  favored  the  immediate  re-admission  of  the 
Southern  States. 

He  opposed  What  was  called  the  "  Military  Reconstruction 
Bill"  when  it  was  under  discussion  in  the  Senate,  but  when 
it  was  returned  with  the  President's  objections,  he  spoke  and 
voted  in  favor  of  its  final  passage  over  the  veto,  as  the  mildest 
terms  which  the  South  were  likely  to  obtain.  He  regarded  it 
as  the  means  through  which  the  South  might  be  "rescued  and 
restored  ere  long  to  prosperity  and  a  healthful  condition,  and 
the  free  institutions  of  our  country  preserved." 

Mr.  JOHNSON  is  of  medium  stature,  with  such  a  build  .of  body 
as  indicates  great  physical  endurance.  His  countenance  habit- 
ually wears  a  sober,  serious  expression,  seldom  relaxing  into  a 
smile.  He  possesses  agreeable  manners,  combined  with  a  dig- 
nity appropriate  to  his  venerable  age  and  high  position.  As  a 
speaker,  his  manner  attracts  and  retains  the  attention,  which 
his  matter  abundantly  repays.  He  enters  with  zeal  into  what- 
ever subject  of  discussion  deserves  his  attention  and  demands 
his  utterance. 

122 


HON.  JOHN  M.THAYER 

SENATOR  FHOM  NEBRASKA. 


JOH^sT    M.    THATEE. 


OKN  MILTON"  THAYER  was  born  in  Bellingham,  Massa- 
chusetts, January  24,  1820.     He  graduated  at  Brown  Uni- 
versity, and   studied  law.     In  1854,  he  emigrated  to  JS"e-     •" 
braska,  and  settled  there  simultaneously  with  the  organization  of  the 
Territory,  selecting  Omaha  as  the  place  of  his  residence. 

Indian  difficulties  shortly  after  occurring,  the  Governor  organized  the 
militia,  and  appointed  Mr.  Thayer  Brigadier-General,  and  gave  him. 
the  command  of  the  force.  The  Legislature,  at  its  ensuing  session, 
created  the  office  of  Major-General,  and  elected  him  as  the  incumbent. 
He  was  frequently  selected  to  go  as  Commissioner  to  the  Indians, 
for  the  purpose  of  stopping  their  hostilities,  and,  on  several  occasions, 
commanded  expeditions  against  them. 

From  his  youth,  Mr.  Thayer  was  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Anti- 
Slavery,  and  hence  he  early  espoused  the  principles  and  course  of 
the  Republican  party.  In  1859,  he- was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Convention  for  framing  a  State  Constitution.  Though  an  ardent 
Republican,  he  received  this  election  from  a  county  strongly  Demo- 
cratic— having  the  highest  vote  on  the  ticket. 

In  1860,  Mr.  Thayer  was  elected  to  the  higher  branch  of  the 
Territorial  Legislature.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  he 
applied  immediately  to  the  War  Department  for  authority  to  raise  a 
regiment  of  volunteers,  and  was  instrumental  in  rallying  the  First 
Nebraska  Infantry.  Of  this  Regiment  he  was  made  Colonel,  and 
served  with  it  in  Missouri  during  the  first  six  months  of  the  War. 
His  regiment,  with  others,  was  selected  by  General  Halleck  to  pro- 
ceed to  Fort  Henry.  On  reaching  that  place,  General  Grant  assigned 

to  Colonel  Thayer  command  of  all  the  reinforcements  which  were 

123 


2  JOHN    M.    THAYER. 

* 

arriving,  and  sent  him  down  the  Tennessee,  and  up  the  Cumberland, 

to  Fort  Donelson,  while  General  Grant  himself  marched  across  by 
land.     Colonel  Thayer  was  then  placed  in  command  of  the  Second- 
Brigade  in  General  Lew  Wallace's  Division,  and  was  engaged  in  the 
hardest  of  the  fighting  on  the  last  day  of  the  battle. 

At  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  Colonel  Thayer  had  command  of  the 
extreme  right,  and  for  good  conduct  received  the  strong  commenda- 
tions of  his  commanders,  and  was  made  Brigadier-General. 

A  prominent  share  in  the  great  struggles  of  the  War  seems  to 
have  fallen  to  General  Thayer.  He  led  one  of  the  storming  columns 
at  Chickesau  Bayou ;  his  horse  was  shot  under  him  at  Arkansas 
Post;  he  was  through  all  the  seigeof  "Vicksburg,  and  was  at  the  first 
and  second  capture  of  Jackson,  Mississippi.  He  was  afterward 
placed  in  command  of  the  "  Army  of  the  Frontier,"  and  with  it 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Prairie  de  Ann,  Jenkin's  Ferry,  and 
other  engagements.  He  was  made  a  Brevet  Major-General  for  "  dis- 
tinguished services." 

On  returning  to  his  State,  after  the  close  of  the  War,  General 
Thayer  was  elected  a  United  States  Senator  for  the  term  expiring  in 
1871. 

Mr.  Thayer  belongs  to  that  class  of  legislators  who,  while  not  given 
to  much  speaking,  are  yet  prompt  and  ready  to  speak  whenever  ne- 
cessity or  the  public  service  requires  it.  From  his  long  residence 
near  the  frontier,  and  the  varied  intercourse  he  has  had  with  the  In- 
dian tribes,  probably  no  member  of  the  Senate  possesses  a  more  ex- 
tensive knowledge  of  matters  pertaining  to  these  savage  people  than 
General  Thayer.  Hence  his  speeches  bearing  upon  the  Indian  ques- 
tion have  a  special  interest  for  those  less  familiar  than  himself  with 
their  sentiments  and  character.  We  are  impressed,  as  we  read  and 
ponder  these  speeches,  that  though  brief  and  unpretending,  they  are, 
however,  the.  words  of  a  man  who  knows  whereof  he  affirms,  and  tes- 
tifies of  that  which  he  has  seen.  "  Mr.  President,"  he  says,  in  one  of 
these  addresses,  "  I  rise  simply  to  correct  two  misapprehensions  of  the 
Senator  from  Maine,  [Mr.  Merrill,]  into  which  he  has  been  led.  He 

124 


JOHN    M.    THAYER.  3 

asks,  where  is  there  an  Indian  reservation  which  is  not  invaded  to- 
day by  the  white  people  ?  Well,  I  respond  to  him  by  stating  that 
there  are  five  Indian  reservations  within  the  State  of  Nebraska,  be- 
tween which  and  the  whites  there  has  been  the  most  perfect  accord 
and  friendship  for  the  seven  years  past,  not  the  slightest  interference 
or  collision  between  the  Indians  upon  these  reservations  and  the 
white  settlers.  That  is  my  answer  to  his  interrogatory.  These 
troubles  do  not  arise  with  the  friendly  Indians,  but  with  the  hostile 
Indians,  who  are  away  beyond  Nebraska  and  Kansas,  upon  the  plains, 
whose  lands  have  not  been  invaded  by  the  whites.  Those  who  have 
committed  these  outrages  and  these  murders  are  not  the  Indians 
whose  lands  have  been  interfered  with  by  the  whites.  They  are 
those  who  have  come  from  their  own  section  of  the  country 
down  to  the  two  Pacific  Eailroads,  and  there  is  where  they  are  creating 
the  difficulty.  It  is  simply  a  question  between  civilization  and  bar- 
barism. They  are  opposed  to  those  two  Pacific  Railroads,  and  that 
is,  after  all,  the  real  cause  of  the  trouble." 

In  another  speech,  several  days  afterward,  on  the  same  general  sub- 
ject, Mr.  Thayer  remarked  as  follows  : 

"  The  Indians'  are  opposed  to  the  building  of  these  two  Roads 
(Pacific  Railroads).  There  is  no  mistake  about  it.  I  have  heard  it 
from  them  myself.  The  reason  they  object  is,  that  it  cuts  in  two 
their  buffalo  range.  The  buifalo  range,  in  certain  seasons  of  the  year, 
extends  from  away  north  of  Nebraska-  down  toward  the  Red  River, 
and  they  think  the  Road  will  interfere  with  that.  One  Indian  chief 
expressed  his  objection  in  this  way :  '  We  do  not  object  to  the  horse 
going  through  our  country  that  goes  so,'  imitating  in  his  manner  the 
galloping  of  a  horse  ;  '  but,'  he  added,  '  we  do  object  to  the  horse  that 
goes  so,'  imitating  the  noise  of  a  steam-engine.  That  was  his  ex- 
pressive way  of  giving  utterance  to  his  objection. 

"  The  difficulty  is,  that  the  Indians  do  not  like  these  Roads  ;  and, 
hence,  I  have  favored  this  bill,  ,which  proposes  to  open  these  two 
lines  of  road  by  taking  the  Indians  away,  and  putting  them  on  reser- 
vations to  the  north  and  to  the  south.  *  *  * 

125 


4-          .  JOHN    M.    THAYER. 

When  the  Senate  was  preparing  to  proceed  with  the  Impeachment 
Trial,  Mr.  Hendricks  objected  to  Mr.  Wade's  being  sworn,  on  the 
ground  that  being  "  interested,  in  view  of  his  possible  connection 
with  the  office,  in  the  result  of  the  proceedings,  he  was  not  compe- 
tent to  sit  as  a  member  of  the  court."  Mr.  Thayer  spoke  in  answer- 
to  this  objection,  and  from  his  remarks  on  the  occasion,  we  make  the 
following  extract : 

"  I  challenge  the  honorable  Senator  from  Indiana  to  point  me  to  one 
iota  in  the  Constitution  which  recognizes  the  right  of  this  body  to  de- 
prive any  individual  Senator  of  his  vote.  No  matter  what  opinions 
we  may  entertain  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  honorable  Senator  from 
Ohio  casting  a  vote  on  this  question,  he  is  here  as  a  Senator,  and 
you  cannot  take  away  his  right  to  vote  except  by  a  gross  usurpation 
of  power.  He  is  here  as  a  Senator  in  the  possession  and  exercise  of 
every  right  x>f  a  Senator  until  you  expel  him  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds 
of  this  body.  Then  he  ceases  to  have  those  rights,  and  not  till 
then.  *  *  In  courts  of  law,  if  objections  are  made  to  any  one 

sitting  upon  a  jury,  and  he  is  excluded,  an  officer  is  sent  out  into  the 
streets  and  the  highways  to  pick  up  talesmen  and  bring  them  in  to 
fill  up  the  jury.  Can  you  do  that  here  ?  Suppose  you  exclude  the 
honorable  Senator  from  Ohio,  can  you  send  an  officer  of  this  Senate 
out  into  the  lobbies  or  into  the  streets  of  Washington  to  bring  in  a 
man  to  take  his  place?  By  no  means.  I  need  not  state  that. 

"  Thus  I  come  back  to  the  proposition  that  we  are  a  Senate,  com- 
posed of  constituent  members,  two  from  every  State,  sworn  to  do 
our  duty  as  Senators  of  the  United  States ;  and  when  you  attempt 
to  exclude  a  Senator  from  the  performance  of  that  duty,  you  assume 
functions  which  are  not  known  in  the  Constitution,  and  cannot  for  a 
moment  be  recognized.  When  you  attempt  to  exercise  the  power, 
and  do  exercise  it,  are  you  any  longer  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  ?  The  Senate,  no  other  parties  or  bodies  forming  any  part  of 
it,  is  the  only  body  known  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
for  this  purpose,  and  the  Senate  is  composed  of  two  Senators  from 
each  State." 

126 


W1 


HON.  JAMK1S  "W  PATTERSON, 
fiENATOB  FROM  ME\V7IAKF SHIRK 


2  JAMES    W.    PATTERSON. 

twenty-one,  he  entered  Dartmouth  College,  and  graduated  with  the 
first  honors  of  his  class  in  1848.  Subsequently  for  two  years  he  was 
in  charge  of  an  academy  in  "Woodstock,  Conn.,  and  at  the  same  time 
he  was  pursuing  a  course  of  study  with  a  view  to  the  profession  of 
the  law.  But  becoming  an  intimate  friend  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
who  at  that  period  was  accustomed  to  spend  his  vacations  in  Con- 
necticut, he  was  induced  through  his  influence  to  turn  his  attention 
to  theology.  In  1851,  he  entered  the  Theological  Seminary  at  New 
Haven,  of  which  the  illustrious  Dr.  Taylor  was  then  the  leading 
spirit.  In  a  single  year  he  completed  the  prescribed  studies  of  two, 
at  the  same  time  teaching  in  a  ladies'  seminary  to  pay  his  expenses. 

From  the  Theological  Seminary,  Mr.  Patterson  was  called  back  to 
Dartmouth  College  as  tutor ;  and  when  the  chair  of  Mathematics 
became  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Prof.  John  S.  Woodman,  he  was 
elected  to  that  professorship.  Subsequently,  on  the  re-organization 
of  the  Departments,  he  was  assigned  to  the  chair  of  Astronomy  and 
Meteorology,  which  he  filled  with  conspicuous  ability. 

From  1858  to  1861,  he  was  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of 
Education,  and,  as  its  Secretary,  had  the  leading  part  of  the  work  to 
do  in  preparing  the  Annual  State  Reports  on  Education.  His  duty 
as  School  Commissioner  required  him  to  address  the  people  in  various 
parts  of  the  State,  on  the  subject  of  Common  School  Education. 
The  ability  displayed  by  Mr.  Patterson  in  these  addresses,  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  people,  and  caused  them  to  demand  his  services 
in  the  wider  fields  of  politics  and  statesmanship. 

In  1862,  he  was  sent  to  the  State  Legislature  as  a  Representative 
of  Hanover,  the  seat  of  Dartmouth  College.  His  reputation  and 
talents  at  once  gave  him  a  commanding  position  in  that  body. 

In  the  spring  of  1863,  Mr.  Patterson  was  elected  a  Representative 
from  New  Hampshire  in  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress.  Se  was 
appointed  on  the  Committee  on  Expenditures  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, and  on  that  for  the  District  of  Columbia.  In  1864,  he  wa* 
appointed  a  Regent  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  In  1865,  he  was 
re-elected  to  Congress,  serving  on  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affaire, 

128 


JAMES    W.    PATTERSON.  3 

and  on  a  Special  Committee  on  a  Department  of  Education.  In 
June,  1866,  be  was  elected  United  States  Senator  for  the  term  ending 
in  1873,  and  is  now  serving  on  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
and  that  on  the  District  of  Columbia.  »i  ;;.  . 

In  the  popular  branch  of  Congress,  Mr.  Patterson  more  than  justi- 
fied the  high  expectations  which  his  entrance  into  that  body  awakened. 
His  duties  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia 
immediately  made  him  acquainted  with  leading  public  interests  and 
the  prominent  business  men  of  Washington,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
from  then  till  now  there  has  been  no  member  of  either  branch  of 
Congress  above  him  in  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  all  classes  in  the 
District.  His  lively  interest  in  free  schools  has  especially  won  for  him 
the  regards  of  all  connected  with  that  cause  in  the  District.  To  him 
belongs  the  honor  of  drafting  and  maturing  'the  excellent  existing 
School  Law  of  the  District,  providing  for  the  free  education  of  all 
the  children,  without  distinction  of  color,  and  placing  the  colored 
schools  upon  the  same  basis  with  the  white  schools.  A  crude  bill 
looking  to  this  result  was  presented  at  the  time  to  the  Senate  Com- 
mittee on  the  District  of  Columbia ;  but  such  was  the  deference  to 
Mr.  Patterson  in  such  matters,  that  the  bill  was  sent  to  the  House 
Committee,  of  which  he  was  then  Chairman,  with  the  understanding 
that  he  should  draft  a  School  Law  covering  that  whole  subject. 
From  his  first  entrance  into  Congress,  he  has  been  recognized  by  the 
people  of  the  District  as  the  special  champion  of  education,  and  has. 
frequently  been  called  upon  to  promote  this  cause  by  public  addresses. 
At  the  inauguration  of  the  Wallach  School  House,  the  first  free 
school  edifice  worthy  of  the  cause  erected  in  the  National  capital, 
July  4,  1863,  Mr.  Patterson  delivered  an  address,  which  is  one  of  the 
best,  as  well  as  one  of  the  earliest  of  his  efforts  in  furtherance  of 
education  in  the  District. 

Among  the  best  specimens  of  Mr.  Patterson's  eloquence,  is  his 
eulogy  upon  the  life  and  character  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  delivered 
at  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  June  3,  1865,  at  the  request  of  the 
State  authorities.  This  discourse  delineates  the  wonderful  character 

129 


4  JAMES    W.   PATTERSON. 

of  the  illustrious  martyr  with  remarkable  discrimination  and  compre- 
hensiveness, while  it  often  rises  to  the  highest  style  of  this  species  of 
commemorative  eloquence.  The  following  paragraph  doubtless  owes 
something  of  its  terse  and  truthful  brevity  to  the  fact  that  the  orator 
was  enunciating  the  results  of  stern  personal  experience.  He  says 
of  President  Lincoln : 

"  Poverty  brought  labor  and  habits  of  industry ;  privations  gave 
a  broad  experience  and  sympathy  with  those  who  eat  bread  in  the 
sweat  of  their  brows ;  the  irrepressible  impulses  of  a  mind  conscious 
of  strength,  induced  study  and  thought.  These  were  the  sources  of 
that  intelligence,  that  tender  sensibility  to  the  misfortunes  and  sor- 
rows of  the  humblest  citizen,  and  that  large  executive  ability  which 
characterized  his  subsequent  career." 

Perhaps  the  ablest,  most  finished,  and  most  eloquent  of  all  his  pub- 
lished discourses  is  that  which  he  pronounced  on  the  "  Responsibili- 
ties of  Republics,"  August  29,  1865,  at  Fort  Popham,  Me.,  on  the 
258th  Anniversary  of  the  planting  of  the  Popham  Colony.  A  single 
passage  taken  almost  at  random  is  here  introduced.  After  a  com- 
pact, and  philosophical  statement  of  the  fundamental  ideas  comprised 
in  the  American  system,  and  of  the  process  by  which  those  ideas 
were  developed  into  a  Government,  the  orator  adds : 

".But  the  end  is  not  yet.  We,  too,  have  work  to  do ;  for  the  foun- 
dations of  the  republic  are  not  yet  completed.  We  cannot  escape 
the  responsibility  of  those  who  build  for  posterity.  The  great  archi- 
tects of  our  system  reared  the  framework,  and  other  generations  have 
labored  faithfully  and  successfully  upon  it.  The  star-lit  flag  which 
symbolizes  its  existence,  more  beautiful  than  the  pearly  gates  of  morn- 
ing closed  with  bars  of  crimson,  has  been  unfurled  over  fleet,  and 
camp,  arid  court,  but  the  broad  substructure  of  this  great  nation  can- 
not be*  settled  firmly  and  compactly  in  its  bed  in  a  hundred  years. 

"  '  I  am  a  long  time  painting,'  says  an  old  Greek  artist ;  '  for  I 
paint  for  a  long  time.'  This  is  the  laconic  language  of  a  universal 
truth.  Whatever  is  destined  long  to  survive,  comes  slowly  to  ma- 
turity. The  primeval  forests  of  cedar  and  oak,  whose  giant  strength 

130 


JAMES    W.    PATTERSON.  5 

has  resisted  the  forces  of  decay  through  half  the  life-time  of  man, 
slowly  lifted  their  gnarled  and  massive  fqrms  through  centuries  of 
growth.  The  earth's  deep  plating  was  laid,  stratum  above  stratum, 
through  the  lapse  of  the  silent,  unchronicled  ages  ;  for  it  was  to  be 
the  theater  of  man's  historic  career.  While  the  old  cathedrals  of 
Europe  have  risen  slowly  to  their  grand  and  solemn  beauty,  kings, 
their  founders,  have  moldered  back  to  dust  within  their  vaults,  and 
the  names  of  their  architects  have  perished  from  memory.  Succeed- 
ing generations  have  added  a  tower,  a  stained  window,  or  a  jeweled 
altar,  and  lain  down  to  rest  beneath  their  shadow,  and  the  work  still 
lingers ;  but  there  they  stand,  firm  as  the  hills,  perpetuating  in  his- 
tories of  stone  the  moral  life  and  intellectual  growth  of  the  world, 
through  many  of  its  most  eventful  centuries.  These*  are  but  types 
of  national  life. 

"  From  the  foundations  of  Rome,  eight  centuries,  crowded  with  the 
reverses  and  triumphs  of  a  heroic  people,  had  passed  into  history,  ere 
she  became  the  mistress  of  the  world. 

"  The  republic  of  Yenice,  too,  which  at  first  fled  from  Rome's  insa- 
tiable lust  of  power,  and  hid  herself  in  the  islands  of  the  sea,  drop- 
ping her  bridal  ring  into  the  Adriatic,  while  the  white-haired  Doge 
pronounced  the  '  Desponsamus  te,  mare,  in  signum  veri  perpetuique 
dominiij  wedded  the  waves  to  her  sweep  of  power  through  thirteen 
hundred  years  of  freedom." 

One  of  his  ablest  speeches  in  the  House  was  that  which  he  deliv- 
ered in  1864,  on  the  Consular  Bill,  and  which  was  recognized  in 
Congress,  at  the  State  Department,  and  elsewhere,  as  an  eminently 
able  and  exhaustive  presentation  upon  that  important  subject.  His 
speech  on  the  Constitutional  Amendment  may  also  be  mentioned  as 
one  of  the  best  of  the  many  able  arguments  made  in  the  House  at 
the  time  of  the  passage  of  that  great  measure.  His  services  in  the 
last  two  Presidential  Campaigns  have  made  his  finished  and  popular 
eloquence  familiar  to  every  section  of  the  country.  On  the  stump 
he  is  perhaps  surpassed  by  no  orator  in  the  country  in  the  popularity 

and  effectiveness  of  his  eloquence.      In  all  these   efforts  he  deals 

131 


6    .  JAMES    W.   PATTERSON. 

almost  exclusively  with  the  great  philosophical  principles  of  Gov- 
ernment arid  of  parties,  appealing  to  the  understanding,  and  not  to 
the  passions  of  his  audiences. 

In  the  Senate,  Mr.  Patterson  has  already  reached  a  high  position. 
His  broad,  liberal  culture,  the  deliberative  character  of  his  eloquence, 
and  his  habit  of  grappling  with  subjects  in  their  foundation  prin- 
ciples, all  combine  to  give  him  great  influence  in  the  Senate.  He  fills 
the  seat  vacated  by  Judge  Daniel  Clark,  and  it  is  a  just  and  ample 
tribute  to  say  of  him  that  he  adorns  the  place  that  for  ten  years  was 
occupied  by  that  able  and  eminent  Senator. 

Mr.  Patterson  seems  to  have  been  exceedingly  fortunate  in  his 
career,  but  his  success  has  been  the  natural  result-  of  the  fact  that 
every  public  duty  to  which  he  has  successively  been  called,  has  been 
executed  wisely  and  well.  From  his  first  entrance  into  public  life  he 
has  been  a  favorite  with  all  classes  in  his  State,  and  in  Congress  as 
well  as  at  home  at  the  present  time  he  has  the  respect  of  all  as  an 
honest,  able,  and  enlightened  Statesman. 

132 


HON.  H  F.  F  KY  "V  71  L  G  O  N 

SENATOR   FROM  MAUGACt'.TJSETTS 


on    Nr.  IT 

if 

• 

4 

•17  and  ; 


2  HENRY    WILSON.  • 

my  childhood  ;  and  want  was  sometimes  there — an  unbidden  guest. 
At  the  age  of  ten  years — to  aid  him  who  gave  me  being  in  keeping 
the  gaunt  specter  from  the  hearth  of  the  mother  who  bore  me — I  left 
the  home  of  my  boyhood,  and  went  forth  to  earn  my  bread  by 
'daily  labor.'" 

From  his  youth,  Mr.  Wilson  seems  to  have  been  deeply  and  perma- 
nently imbued  with  the  spirit  of  hostility  to  Slavery,  and  few  men 
have  dealt  more  numerous  or  heavy  blows  against  the  institution. 
His  political  career  commenced  in  1840.  During  this  year  he  made 
upwards  of  sixty  speeches  in  behalf  of  the  election  of  Gen.  Harrison. 
In  the  succeeding  five  years,  he  was  three  times  elected  a  Representa- 
tive, and  twice  a  Senator,  to  the  Massachusetts  legislature.  Here  his 
stern  opposition  to  Slavery  was  at  once  apparent,  and  in  1845  he  was 
selected,  with  the  poet  Whittier,  to  bear  to  Washington  the  great  anti- 
slavery  petition  of  Massachusetts  against  the  annexation  of  Texas. 
In  the  same  year  he  introduced  in  the  legislature  a  resolution  declar- 
ing the  unalterable  hostility  of  Massachusetts  to  the  further  extension 
and  longer  continuance  of  Slavery  in  America,  and  her .  fixed  deter- 
mination to  use  all  constitutional  and  lawful  means  for  its  extinction^ 
His  speech  on  this  occasion  was  pronounced  by  the  leading  anti-sla- 
very journals  to  be  the  fullest  and  most  comprehensive  on  the  Slavery 
question  that  had  yet  been  made  in  any  legislative  body  in  the  coun- 
try. The  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  large  majority. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  a  delegate  to  the  Whig  National  Convention  of 
1848,  and  on  the  rejection  of  the  anti-slavery  resolutions  -presented 
to  that  body,  he  withdrew  from  it,  and  was  prominent  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Free  Soil  party.  In  the  following  year  he  was  chosen 
chairman  of  the  Free  Soil  State  Committee  of  Massachusetts — a  post 
which  he  filled  during  four  years.  In  1850  he  was  again  a  menibei 
of  the  State  legislature ;  and  in  1851  and  1852  was  a  member  of  the 
Senate,  and  president  of  that  body.  He  was  also  president  of  the 
Free  Soil  National  Convention  at  Pittsburg  in  1852,  and  chairman  of 
the  National  Committee.  '  He  was  the  Free  Soil  candidate  for  Con- 
gress in  1852.  In  1853  and  1854  he  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate 

134 


HEXRY    WILSON.  3 

for  Governor  of  Massachusetts.  In  1853  he  was  an  active  and  influ- 
ential member  of  the  Massachusetts  Constitutional  Convention.  In 
1855,  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  to  fill  the  vacancy 
occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Everett. 

Mr.  Wilson  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  in  February,  1855,  and,  by 
a  vote  nearly  unanimous,  has  been  twice  re-elected  to  that  office.  As 
a  Senator,  he  has  been  uniformly  active,  earnest,  faithful,  prominent, 
and  influential, — invariably  evincing  an  inflexible  and  fearless  opposi- 
tion to  Slavery  and  the  slave-power.  In  his  very  first  speech,  made 
a  few  days  after  entering  the  Senate,  he  announced  for  himself  and 
his  anti-slavery  friends  their  uncompromising  position.  "  We  mean, 
sir,"  said  he,  "  to  place  in  the  councils  of  the  Nation  men  who,  in  the 
words  of  Jefferson,  have  sworn  on  the  altar  of  God  eternal  hostility 
to  every  kind  of  oppression  over  the  mind  and  body  of  men."  This 
was  the  key-note  of  Mr.  Wilson's  career  in  the  Senate  from  that  day 
to  this. 

In  the  spring  of  1856  occurred  the  assault  upon  Mr.  Sumner  by 
Preston  S.  Brooks  of  South  Carolina.  Mr.  Wilson — whose  fear- 
lessness is  equal  to  his  firmness  and  consistency — denounced  this  act 
as  "  brutal,  murderous,  and  cowardly."  These  words,  uttered  on  the 
floor  of  the  Senate,  drew  forth  a  challenge  from  Mr.  Brooks,  which 
was  declined  by  Wilson  in  terms  so  just,  dignified,  and  manly,  as  to 
secure  the  warm  approval  of  all  good  and  right-minded  people. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion,  the  Senate  assigned  to 
Mr.  Wilson  the  Chairmanship  of  the  Military  Committee.  In  view 
of  his  protracted  experience  as  a  member  of  this  committee,  joined 
with  his  great  energy  and  industry,  probably  no  man  in  the  Senate 
was  more  completely  qualified  for  this  most  important  post.  In  this 
committee  originated  most  of  the  legislation  for  raising,  organizing, 
and  governing  the  armies,  while  thousands  of  nominations  of  officers 
of  all  grades  were  referred  to  it.  The  labors  of  Mr.  Wilson,  as 
chairman  of  the  committee,  were  immense.  Important  legislation 
affecting  the  armies,  and  the  thousands  of  nominations,  could  not 
but  excite  the  liveliest  interest  of  officers  and  their-  friends ;  and  they 

135 


4  HENRY    WILSON. 

ever  freely  visited  him,  consulted  with,  and  wrote  to  him.  Private 
soldiers,  too,  ever  felt  at  liberty  to  visit  him,  or  write  to  him  concern- 
ing their  affairs.  Thousands  did  so,  and  so  promptly  did  he  attend 
to  their  needs  that  they  called  him  the  "  Soldier's  Friend." 

As  clearly  as  any  man  in  the  country,  Mr.  Wilson,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  rebellion,  discerned  the  reality  and  magnitude  of 
the  impending  conflict.  Hence,  at  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  when 
President  Lincoln  issued  a  call  for  75,000  men,  the  clear-sighted  Sen- 
ator advised  that  the  call  should  be  for  300,000 ;  and  immediately  in- 
duced the  Secretary  of  War  to  double  the  number  of  regiments 
assigned  to  Massachusetts.  In  the  prompt  forwarding  of  these  troops 
Mr.  Wilson  was  specially  active.  Throughout  that  spring,  and  until 
the  meeting  of  Congress,  July  4th,  he  was  constantly  occupying  him- 
self at  Washington,  aiding  the  soldiers,  working  in  the  hospitals,  and 
preparing  the  necessary  military  measures  to  be  presented  to  the  na- 
tional legislature. 

Congress  assembled ;  and,  on  the  second  day  of  the  session,  Mr. 
Wilson  introduced  several  important  bills  relating  to  the  military 
wants  of  the  country,  one  of  which  was  a  bill  authorizing  the  employ- 
ment of  500,000  volunteers  for  three  years.  Subsequently  Mr.  Wil- 
son introduced  another  bill  authorizing  the  President  to  accept  500,- 
000  volunteers  additional  to  those  already  ordered  to  be  employed. 
During  this  extra  session,  Mr.  Wilson,  as  Chairman  of  the  Military 
Committee,  introduced  other  measures  of  great  importance  relating  to 
the  appointment  of  army  officers,  the  purchase  of  arms  and  muni- 
tions of  war,  and  increasing  the  pay  of  private  soldiers, — all  of 
which  measures  were  enacted.  In  fact,  such  was  his  activity  and  ef- 
ficiency in  presenting  and  urging  forward  plans  for  increasing  and 
organizing  the  armies  necessary  to  put  down  the  rebellion,  that  Gen- 
eral Scott  declared  of  Mr.  Wilson  that  he  "  had  done  more  work  in 
that  short  session  than  all  the  chairmen  of  the  military  committees 
had  done  for  the  last  twenty  years." 

After  the  defeat  at  Bull  Eun,  Mr.  Wilson  was  earnestly  solicited  by 
Mr.  Cameron,  Mr-.  Seward,  and  Mr.  Chase,  to  raise  a  regiment  of  in- 
136 


HENRY    WILSON.  '5 

fantry,  a  company  of  sharp-shooters,  and  a  battery  of  artillery.  Ac- 
cordingly, returning  to  Massachusetts,  he  issued  a  stirring  appeal 
to  the  young  men  of  the  State,  -addressed  several  public  meetings, 
and  in  forty  days  he  succeeded  in  rallying  2,300  men.  He  was  com- 
missioned colonel  of  the  Twenty-second  Regiment,  and  with  his  regi- 
ment, a  company  of  sharp-shooters,  and  the  third  battery  of  artillery, 
he  returned  to  Washington  as  colonel ;  and  afterwards,  as  aid  on  the 
staff  of  General  McClellan,  Mr.  Wilson  served  until  the  beginning 
of  the  following  year,  when  pressing  duties  in  Congress  forced  him 
to  resign  his  military  commission. 

Returning  to  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Wilson  originated  and 
carried  through  several  measures  of  great  importance  to  the  interests 
of  the  army  and  the  country.  Among  these  was  the  passage  of  bills 
relating  to  courts-martial,  allotment  certificates,  army-signal  depart- 
ment, sutlers  and  their  duties,  the  army  medical  department,  en- 
couragement of  enlistments,  making  free  the  wives  and  children 
of  colored  soldiers,  a  uniform  system  of  army  ambulances,  increas- 
ing still  further  the  pay  of  soldiers,  establishing  a  national  mili- 
tary and  naval  asylum  for  totally  disabled  officers  -and  men  of  the 
volunteer  forces,  encouraging  the  employment  of  disabled  and  dis- 
charged soldiers,  securing  to  colored  soldiers  equality  of  pay,  and 
other  wise  and  judicious  provisions. 

Invariably  true  and  constant  in  his  sympathies  for  the  down- 
trodden and  oppressed,  Mr.  Wilson  never  once  forgot  the  slave,  for 
whose  freedom  and  elevation  he  had  consecrated  his  time  and  energies 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  actively  participated  in 
the  measures  culminating  in  the  anti-slavery  amendment  to  the  Consti- 
tution. He  introduced  the  bill  abolishing  Slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  bty  which  more  than  three  thousand  slaves  were  made  free, 
and  Slavery  made  for  ever  impossible  in  the  capital  of  the  Nation.  He 
introduced  a  provision,  which  became  a  law,  May  21,  1862,  "  provid-v 
ing  that  persons  of  color  in  the  District  of  Columbia  should  be  sub- 
ject to  the  same  laws  to  which  white  persons  were  subject;  that 
they  should  be  tried  for  offenses  against  the  laws  in  the  same  manner 

137 


6  HENRY    WILSON. 

as  white  persons  were  tried ;  and,  if  convicted,  be  Ijable  to  the  same 
penalty,  and  no  other,  as  would  be  inflicted  upon  white  persons  for 
the  same  crime."  He  introduced  the  amendment  to  the  Militia  Bill 
of  1795,  which  made  negroes  a  part  of  the  militia,  and  providing  for 
the  freedom  of  all  such  men  of  color  as  should  be  called  into  the  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  the  freedom  of  their  mothers, 
wives,  and  children.  This,  with  one  or  two  other  measures  of  a  kin- 
dred character,  introduced  by  Mr.  Wilson,  and  urged  forward 
through  much  and  persistent  opposition,  resulted  in  the  freedom  of 
nearly  100,000  slaves  in  Kentucky  alone. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Wilson  was  no  less  active  and  in- 
fluential in  procuring  legislation  for  the  suitable  reduction  of  the  army 
than  he  had  been  in  originating  measures  for  its  creation.  Making  an 
extended  tour  through  the  Southern  States,  he  delivered  numerous 
able  and  instructive  addresses  on  political  and  national  topics. 

He  was  among  the  first  to  declare  himself  in  favor  of  General 
Grant  as  the  Kepublican  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  After  the 
nomination,  Mr.  Wilson  entered  with  great  zeal  into  the  canvass,  and 
made  some  of  the  ablest  speeches  of  the  campaign. 

Amid  the  pressure  of  public  duties,  Mr.  Wilson  has  found  time 
for  literary  pursuits.  He  is  the  author  of  a  "  History  of  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Measures  of  the  Thirty-seventh  and  Thirty-eighth  Congresses," 
and  "  History  of  the  Eeconstruction  Measures  of  the  Thirty-ninth 


In  his  personal  character  Mr.  Wilson  is  without  reproach.  He 
possesses  purity  as  stainless  as  when  he  entered  politics,  and  integrity 
as  unimpeachable  as  when  first  elected  to  office.  He  is  one  of  the  most 
practical  of  statesmen,  and  one  of  the  most  skillful  of  legislative 
tacticians.  His/brfeas  a  Senator  is  hard  work — the  sinfple  and  effi- 
cient means  by  which  he  has  arisen  from  humble  origin  to  his  present 
thigh  position. 

138 


JACOB  M.  IIIOWA.KU 


&    ,  ~.    HI  irou'i  William 
.  :    >•< .  \1.'ib.hiic!iiife^».u,  in  1635,  five  years 

after  the  town  Was  e^tHliliihed. 

r^  t  oquently  in  requisition 'to 

!><•     V'H- 

• 

j 

t 

nington    and    ! 
His  Btudies  wer 


•>..    ti«  wBiwrtfartf'vV  <wutf« 

Maasaclm-setta,  and  in  July,  1832,  he  removed  to  Detroit,  then  the 
-.\  of  Michigan  Territory,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
t?   '.>>ir      Ti»  J^."5  Vi»?  was  DUfrried  to  Catharine  A.  Shaw, 
a  vouui^  ittiiv  w;  ^;  Hwi  iV>rmed  at  Ware. 

In  his  profession*)  J- 

intei'ests  of  his.  «ilieritc. 

ored  with  Wa:  lt*»; 


. 


2  JACOB    M.    nOWAUD. 

and,  having  employed  his  pen  in  repelling  it,  finally,  when  Mr. 
Mason,  the  territorial  governor,  thought  it  necessary  to  employ  mili- 
tary force  against  a  similar  force  from  Ohio,  Mr.  Howard  volun- 
teered, and  proceeded  with  arms  to  make  good  the  arguments  he  had 
advanced.  The  expedition  was,  however,  productive  only  of  waste- 
ful expenditure  to  the  Territory,  and  a  large  slaughter  of  pigs  and 
poultry. 

In  1838,  Mr.  Howard  was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  the  enactment  of  the  code  known  as  the  He- 
vised  Laws  of  that  year ;  in  the  railroad  legislation  of  the  State ; 
and  in  examining  into  the  condition  of  the  brood  of  "  free  banks," 
known  as  "  wildcat  banks,"  that  had  come  into  pernicious  existence 
under  the  free-banking  system  enacted  the  year  before.  This  exam- 
ination developed  such  a  scene  of  fraud  and  corruption  in  the  local 
currency  of  the  State,  that  the  paper  of  those  banks  soon  lost  all 
credit ;  and  the  State  Supreme  Court,  as  soon  as  the  question  was 
fairly  brought  before  it,  adjudged  them  to  be  all  unconstitutional 
and  void;  a  decision  in  which  the  community  most  heartily  ac- 
quiesced. 

In  the  presidential  canvass  of  1840,  which  resulted  in  the  election 
of  General  Harrison,  Mr.  Howard  was  a  candidate  for  Congress,  and 
was  elected  by  1,500  majority.  During  the  three  sessions  of  the 
Twenty-seventh  Congress  he  engaged  but  seldom  in  debate,  but  was 
an  attentive  observer  of  the  scenes  which  passed  before  him.  His 
feelings  and  opinions  had  ever  been  against  slavery,  its  influences, 
its  crimes,  its  power.  John  Quincy  Adams  and  Joshua  R.  Giddings, 
both  members  of  the  House,  championed  the  anti-slavery  cause. 
Henry  A.  "Wise,  Mr.  Gilmer,  and  Mr.  Mallor^,  of  Virginia,  and 
Thomas  F.  Marshall,  of  Kentucky,  were  the  leading  combatants  on 
the  other  side.  The  conflict,  which  occupied  a  large  portion  of  that 
Congress,  was  fierce  and  fiery. 

With  what  interest  did  Mr.  Howard,  then  a  new  member  and  a 
young  man,  drink  in  the  words  of  the  "  old  man  eloquent,"  as  he 
unfolded  his  mighty  argument  against  the  "  sum  of  all  villainies," 
and  the  dangers  it  menaced  to  the  liberties  of  our  country  ! 

140 


JACOB    M.    HOWARD.  3 

He  left  that  Congress  with  the  full  conviction  that  the  final  solu- 
tion of  the  great  question  would  be  in  a  civil  war,  though  hoping 
that  some  measure  might  be  devised  less  radical  and  terrible,  that 
should  calm  the  deeply-stirred  passions  of  the  people.  He  remained 
steadfastly  attached  to  the  Whig  party,  and  in  the  presidential  can- 
vasses of  1844,  1848,  and  1852,  exerted  himself  to  promote  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Clay,  General  Taylor,  and  General  Scott. 

In  the  trial  of  a  slave  case,  under  the  fugitive  slave  act  of  1850,  in 
the  United  States  Circuit, Court,  before  Judge  McLean,  he  denounced 
that  act  as  a  defiance,  a  challenge  to  the  conflict  of  arms,  by  the 
South  to  the  North,  and  predicted  that  sooner  or  later  it  would  be 
accepted  ;  and  characterized  its  author  (Mr.  Mason,  of  Virginia,)  as  an 
enemy  of  his  country  and  a  traitor  to  the  Union. 

On  th§  defeat  of  General  -Scott  he  resolved  to  withdraw  entirely 
from  politics ;  but  on  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1854,  repealing  the 
Missouri  compromise,  he  again  entered  the  political  arena  in  resist- 
ance to  that  flagrant  encroachment  of  the  slave  power.  He  was 
among  those  who  took  the  earliest  steps  to  effect  an  organization  for 
the  Overthrow  of  the  Democratic  party  of  the  North,  which  had  be- 
come the  willing  ally  of  the  pro-slavery  or  secession  party  of  the 
South.  He  saw  that  such  a  party  must  embrace  all  the  elements  of 
popular  opposition  to  the  principles  and  aims  of  the  slaveholders.  The 
old  Whig  party  Vnever  as  a  party  having  made  its  influence  felt  in  op- 
position to  those  principles  and  aims,  had  become  powerless  as  an 
agency  whereby  to  combat  them — or  even  to  move  the  hearts  of  the  peo- 
ple. Yet  by  far  the  greater  portion  of  its  members  in  the  free  states 
were  in  sentiment  opposed  to  the  schemes  of  the  slave  power,  now  too 
manifest  to  be  misapprehended  or  viewed  with  indifference.  To 
count  upon  this  portion  of  the  Whig  party  was  obvious.  The  great 
end  to  be  obtained  was  a  firm  and  cordial  union  of  this  with  two 
other  elements,  the  old  Abolition  party  proper,  and  the  "  Free  Soil 
Democracy."  In  Michigan,  these  last  two  had  already  coalesced  and 
had  put  in  nomination  a  State  ticket,  at  the  head  of  which  was  the 
name  of  Hon.  Kinsley  S.  Bingham  as  their  candidate  for  Governor. 
A  call,  numerously  signed,  was  issued,  inviting  all  freemen  of  the 

141 


4  JACOB    M.    HOWARD. 

State,  opposed  to  the  recent  measures  of  Congress  on  the  subject  of 
slavery,  to  assemble  at  Jackson  on  the  6th  of  July.  The  assemblage 
was  numerous,  and  the  utmost  harmony  and  good  feeling  prevailed. 
"Whigs,"  "Abolitionists,"  "Free  Soilers,"  and  "Liberty  Men,"  met 
and  shook  hands  like  a  band  of  brothers.  A  deep  seriousness  per- 
vaded the  whole,  and  a  prescience  of  the  events  soon  to  develop 
themselves,  seemed  to  teach  them  that  this  was  the  "beginning  of  the 
end  "  of  slavery.  Mr.  Howard  was  the  sole  author  of  the  series  of 
resolutions  that  were  adopted.  They  strongly  denounced  slavery  as 
a  moral,  social  and  political  evil,  as  a  source  of  national  weakness  and 
endless  internal  strife ;  they  condemned  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
compromise  and  the  consequent  opening  of  all  the  new  territories  to 
slavery ;  they  encouraged  in  no  equivocal  terms  the  free  settlers  of 
Kansas  to  resist  the  tyranny  and  outrages  with  which  the  slave  power 
was  seeking  to  crush  them.  They  went  further — they  demanded, 
not  the  restoration  of  that  compromise,  but,  as  an  indemnity  for  the 
future,  as  just  and  necessary  safeguards  against  the  grasping  ambition 
of  slaveholders,  the  banishment  of  slavery,  by  law,  from  all  the  ter- 
ritories of  the  United  States,  from  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  all 
other  places  Owned  by  the  Government.  They  invoked  the  cordial 
co-operation  of  all  persons  and  parties  for  the  attainment  of  these 
great  ends ;  and  gave  to  the  new  party  there  consolidated  the  name 
of  "  REPUBLICANS,"  *  by  which  it  has  since  been  known. 

Mr.  Bingham  was  here  again  nominated  for  Governor,  and  Mr. 
Howard,  against  his  own  earnest  remonstrances,  put  in  nomination 
for  Attorney-General  of  the  State.  At  the  ensuing  November  elec- 
tion, the  whole  ticket  was  elected  by  a  large  majority,  notwithstand- 
ing the  earnest  appeals  of  General  Cass  and  other  speakers  from  the 
stump,  struggling  against  the  popular  current. 

Mr.  Howard  was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  the  address  at  the 

first  national  Republican  convention  held  at  Pittsburgh,  February 

22d,  1856.     He  held  the  office  of  Attorney-General  of  Michigan  for 

ix  years,  and  left  it  January  1st,  1861.     While  holding  that  impor- 

*  Mr.  Qreeley  suggested  the  name  of  "  Democratic  Republican  party,"  but  as  the  Democratic 
party  had  been  the  authors  and  abettors  of  the  measures  complained  of,  the  new  party  rejected 
even  any  nominal  connection  with  them. 

143 


JACOB    M.    HOWARD.  5 

tant  office,  his  incessant  labors  attested  his  fidelity  to  his  trust ;  and 
the  published  reports  of  the  Supreme  Court  evince  his  thoroughness 
and  talents  as  a  lawyer.  To  him  the  State  is  indebted  for  its  excel- 
lent law,  known  as  the  registration  act,  by  which  all  voters  are  re- 
quired to  enter  their  names  on  the  proper  books  of  townships  and 
wards. 

Mr.  Bingham  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  in  January, 
1.859,  and  died  in  October,  1861.  On  the  assembling  of  the  Legisla- 
ture in  January  following,  Mr.  Howard  was  chosen  to  fill  the  va- 
cancy. He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary  and  that  on  Military  Affairs.  He  gave  an  earnest  support 
to  all  the  measures  for  the,  prosecution  of  the  war  to  subdue  the  rebel- 
lion, and  was  among  the  first  to  recommend  the  passage  of  the  Con- 
scription Act  of  1863,  being  convinced  that  the  volunteer  system 
could  not  safely  be  relied  upon  as  a  means  of  recruiting  and  increas- 
ing the  army.  Every  measure  for  supplying  men  and  means  found 
in  him  a  warm  supporter.  He  favored  the  principle  of  confiscation 
of  the  property  of  the  rebels,  and  one  of  his  most  elaborate  and  elo- 
quent speeches  was  made  on  that  subject  in  April,  1862.  A  careful 
observer  of  the  movements  of  parties,  he  early  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  General^McClellan  was  acting  in  the  interest  of  the  anti-war 
portion  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  consequently  lost  all  confidence 
in  his  efficiency  as  a  commander.  Influenced  by  this  feeling,  he 
called  on  President  Lincoln,  in  company  with  Senator  Lane  of  In- 
diana, in  March,  1862,  and  earnestly  urged  the  dismissal  of  that  Gen- 
eral from  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  But  Mr.  Lin- 
coln thought  it  best,  as  he  said,  "  to  try  Mac  a  little  longer."  He 
added  :  "  Mac  is  slow,  but  I  still  have  confidence  in  him."  And  thus 
McClellan  was  retained  in  command. 

Mr.  Howard  was  among  the  first  to  favor  an  amendment  of  the 
Constitution,  abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  United  States,  in 
the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate,  who  reported  the  amendment 
as  it  was  finally  passed  by  both  houses  and  ratified  by  the  State  Leg- 
islatures. He  drafted  the  first  and  principal  clause  in  the  exact  words 
in  which  it  now  appears.  Some  members  of  the  Committee  re- 

143 


6  JACOB    M.    HOWARD. 

marked  despairingly :  "  it  is  undertaking  too  much ;  we  cannot  get  it 
through  the  Legislatures,  or  even  the  houses  of  Congress."  Mr. 
Howard  replied  with  animation :  "  We  can !  Now  is  the  time.  None 
can  be  more  propitious.  The  people  are  with  us,  and  if  we  give 
them  a  chance  they  will  demolish  slavery  at  a  blow.  Let  us  try  ! '' 
In  January,  1865,  Mr.  Howard  was  re-elected  to  the  Senate  for  the 
full  term  commencing  on  the  4th  of  March  of  that  year.  The  suc- 
cesses of  our  arms  in  the  southwest,  and  the  hope  of  converting  rep- 
els into  union  men  there,  had  induced  President  Lincoln  to  send 
General  Banks  with  a  large  force  to  New  Orleans,  and  by  formal  in- 
structions to  invest  him  with  authority  to  hold,  under  his  own  military 
orders,  elections  of  members  of  new  State  conventions,  to  result  finally 
in  the  reconstruction  of  the  State  governments.  This  strange  plan 
of  reconstruction  required  the  assent  of  only  one-tenth  part  of  the 
white  voters.  The  crudest  and  most  unsatisfactory  of  all  plans  of 
reconstruction,  it  went  into  operation  in  Louisiana,  and  was  in  truth 
the  suggestion  of  that  stupendous  plan  of  usurpation  of  the  powers 
of  Congress  under  the  pretense  of  reconstructing  the  rebel  States 
afterwards,  in  the  summer  of  1865,  attempted  to  be  carried  out  b} 
Andrew  Johnson,  when  he  became  President  by  the  assassination  of 
Mr.  Lincoln.  A  joint  resolution  for  the  recognition  oi^Louisiana,  or- 
ganized under  the  military  orders  of  General  Banks,  came  before  the 
Senate  from  the  Judiciary  Committee,  and  was  the  subject  of  ani- 
mated and  elaborate  discussion.  Mr.  Howard  opposed  it,  and  on  the 
25th  of  February,  1865,  delivered  a  speech  in  which  he  fully  and 
clearly  demonstrated,  that  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  seceded  States 
the  authority  of  Congress  was  supreme  and  exclusive,  and  that,  the 
executive  as  such  was  invested  with  no  authority  whatever.  He  in- 
sisted that  by  seceding  from  the  Union,  and  in  making  war  upon  the 
Government,  the  rebel  States  became  enemies  in  the  sense  of  the  laws 
of  nations,  and  thus  forfeited  their  rights  and  privileges  as  States ; 
that  consequently,  when  subdued  by  the  arms  of  the  Government, 
they  were  "  conquered  "  and  lay  at  the  mercy  of  their  conquerors,  for 
exactly  the  same  reason  as  prevails  in  cases  of  international  wars ; 
that  it  pertained  to  the  law-making  power  of  the  United  States,  not 

144 


JACOB    M.    HOWARD  7 

to  the  President,  to  deal  with  the  subjugated  communities,  and  that 
Congress  in  its  own  discretion  was  to  judge  of  the  time  and  mode  of 
re-admitting  them  as  States  of  the  Union.  And  this  is  the  doctrine 
that  has  practically  and  finally  prevailed,  after  a  most  gigantic  strug- 
gle between  the  two  branches  of  the  Government. 

In  the  reconstruction  legislation  of  1867  and  1868,  the  principles  of 
constitutional  law.  thus  affirmed  by  Mr.  Howard,  were  fully  recog- 
nized and  put  into  practice  ;  for  that  legislation  rests  exclusively  upon 
the  ground  that  Congress,  and  not  the  President,  is  vested  with  the 
power  of  reorganizing  the  rebel  States. 

During  the  session  of  1865-6,  he  served  on  the  joint  committee  on 
Reconstruction,  one  of  whose  duties  was  to  inquire  and  report  upon 
the  condition  of  the  rebel  States.  For  convenience  the  committee 
divided  them  into  several  districts,  and  to  Mr.  Howard  was  assigned 
Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina.  The  voluminous  report 
of  this  committee,  containing  the  testimony  of  the  numerous  witnesses 
examined,  shows  the  extent  of  their  labors  and  the  perplexing  nature 
of  the  subjects  committed  to  them.  As  the  principal  result  of  their 
labors,  they  submitted  to  Congress  a  proposition  to  amend  the  Consti- 
tution, now  known  as  the  Fourteenth  Article :  a  most  important 
amendment,  which,  after  thorough  discussion,  in  which  Mr.  LIo \vard 
took  a  leading  part,  passed  both  houses  of  Cfongress  and  was  submitted 
to  the  State  legislatures  for  ratification.  Had  it  been  ratified  by  the 
State  governments  of  the  rebel  States,  inaugurated  by  the  executive 
proclamations  of  Mr.  Johnson,  all  the  troubles  that  followed  would 
have  been  avoided.  But  that  singular  man  and  a  majority  of  his 
cabinet  strenuously  opposed  and  defeated  it  in  those  bodies.  The 
result  is  known.  Forced  to  vindicate  their  own  authority,  and  to 
prevent  anarchy  in  those  States,  Congress,  in  March,  1867,  enacted 
the  first  of  that  series  of  statutes  known  as  the  reconstruction  acts, 
by  which  they  declared  those  States  without  legal  governments,  and 
fctibjected  them  to  a  quasi  military  rule  until  proper  State  constitu- 
tions could  be  formed  on  the  principle  of  impartial  suffrage  of  whites 
and  blacks,  and  until  Congress  should  formally  re-admit  them.  In 

the  earnest  struggle  to  uphold  this  legislation,  Mr.  Howard  was  ever 

145 


8  JACOB    M.    HOWARD. 

at  his  post  of  duty.  He  drew  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Mili- 
tary Affairs,  on  the  removal  of  Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War, 
by  President  Johnson,  strongly  condemning  that  act,  and  exposing 
Mr.  Johnson's  complicity  in  the  "  New  Orleans  Kiots." 

When  the  contest  between  the  two  branches  of  the  government 
resulted  in  the  impeachment  of  Mr.  Johnson  by  the  House  of  Kepre- 
sentatives,  Mr.  Howard  voted  the  accused  guilty  of  the  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors  charged  in  the  articles  of  impeachment.  He  is  a 
man  of  medium  stature,  compact  frame,  and  much  power  of  endur- 
ance. He  is  an  eloquent  speaker  and  a  formidable  antagonist  in  de- 
bate. He  is  as  exemplary  in  his  private  life  as  honorable  in  his 
public  career. 

146  • 


<T  TIMOTHY  O.  HOWE 
tNTATOH.  i'P.C.\f  'WISCONSIN 


tice  a: 

of  Ellsworth. 

• 
profession,  at  Readfield. 

• 
- 

mber  of  ' 
, 

• 

' 


.     In 


2  .      TIMOTHY    O.    HOWE. 

1854,  immediately  after  the  passage  of  the  Nebraska  bill,  the  Whigs, 
Free  Soilers,  and  Anti-Nebraska  Democrats,  of  Wisconsin,  met  in 
mass  convention  at  Madison,  the  capital,  and  organized  the  Republi- 
can party  in  that  State.  This  occurred  two  years  before  the  national 
organization  of  the  party.  Judge  Howe  was  then  on  the  bench, 
and  took  no  active  part  in  politics,  but  published  a  letter  expressing 
his  hearty  approbation  of  the  movement.  The  following  year  he 
resigned  his  office  as  Judge  and  resumed  the  practice  of  the  law. 
He  bore  a  leading  part  in  the  State  canvass  of  that  and  the  following 
year,  as  a  speaker,  in  the  advocacy  of  Republican  principles  and 
the  election  of  the  nominees  of  the  Republican  party. 

The  year  1856  was  signalized  by  one  of  the  most  remarkable  judi- 
cial trials  in  the  history  of  jurisprudence.  At  the  general  election 
in  November,  1855,  Hon.  Win.  A.  Barstow,  then  the  Governor  of 
Wisconsin,  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for  re-election.  The  can- 
didate of  the  Republican  or  opposition  party  was  Hon.  Coles  Bash- 
ford,  recently  a  delegate  from  the  Territory  of  Arizona  in  the  For- 
tieth Congress. 

The  canvassers  determined  that  Mr.  Barstow  had  received  the 
greatest  number  of  votes.  In  pursuance  of  that  determination  a 
certificate  of  election  was  issued  to  him,  signed  by  the  Secretary  of 
State,  and  authenticated  by  the  great  seal  of  the  State,  and  on  the 
opening  of  the  next  political  year  Mr.  Barstow  took  the  oath  of 
office,  and  was  re-inaugurated  with  imposing  ceremonies  and  much 
display  of  military  force.  Mr.  Bashford  averred  that,  in  fact,  the 
greater  number  of  legal  votes  were  cast  for  him,  and  not  for  Mr. 
Barstow.  He  contended  that  the  canvass  was  fraudulent  and  false, 
and  he  resolved  to  try  the  validity  of  Mr.  Birstow's  title  by  a  suit 
at  law.  Accordingly  he  also  took  the  oath  of  office.  On  the  15th 
of  January  the  Attorney-General  filed,  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State,  an  information  in  the  nature  of  quo  warranto  against  the 
acting  Governor.  That  is  supposed  to  be  the  only  instance  in  the 
'  history  of  Government,  when  the  people  of  a  State  have  appealed  to 
the  judicial  authority  to  dispossess  an  incumbent  of  the  executive 
office. 

148 


TIMOTHY    O.    HOWE.  3 

Some  of  the  best  professional  talent  in  the  State  was  employed  in  the 
conduct  of  the  cause,  and  in  its  progress  party  feeling  was  stirred  to  its 
lowest  depths.  An  attempt  was  made  to  deter  the  prosecution  by  threats 
that  the  litigation  would  be  protracted  so  that  no  judgment  could 
be  obtained  during  the  Gubernatorial  term.  It  was  broadly  hinted 
on  the  argument,  and  freely  asserted  by  a  portion  of  the  press,  that,  if 
the  court  should  give  judgment  for  the  relator,  the  respondent,  hav- 
ing already  the  command  of  the  militia  of  the  State,  wrould  not  submit 
to  the  judgment.  For  the  relator  appeared,  besides  Mr.  Howe,  Mr. 
E.  G.  Eyan,  Mr.  J.  H.  Kriowlton,  and  the  late  Postmaster-General, 
Hon.  A.  W.  Randall,  while  the  defence  was  managed  by  Mr.  J.  E. 
Arnold,  Judge  Orton  and  the  present  Senator  Carpenter. 

It  was  expected  that  Mr.  Ryan  would  lead  the  prosecution.  He 
was  a  Democrat  in  politics,  and  so  was  politically  opposed  to  his 
client ;  and,  moreover,  was  a  lawyer  unsurpassed  for  ripe  learning 
.  and  forensic  ability  by  any  member  of  the  profession  in  the  United 
States.  But  an  unfortunate  disagreement  between  him  and  the  court, 
in  the  commencement  of  the  contest,  induced  his  temporary  withdraw- 
al from  the  case,  and  thereupon  the  lead  was  assigned  to  Mr.  Howe. 

A  sketch  of  the  progress  of  the  case  would  hardly  fail  to  interest 
both  the  professional  and  the  general  reader ;  but  space  forbids.  The 
prosecution,  however,  was  completely  triumphant.  In  spite  of  threat- 
ened delays,  the  court  unanimously  gave  judgment  for  the  relator, 
on  the  24th  day  of  March,  1856  —  but  little  more  than  two  months 
from  the  commencement  of  proceedings  —  and  in  spite  of  threatened 
resistance,  the  relator  was,  on  the-  next .  day,  quietly  and  peaceably 
installed  in  the  office. 

The  reputation  won  by  Judge  Howe,  in  the  management  of  that 
great  State  trial,  gave  to  his  name  marked  prominence  as  a  candidate 
for  the  U.  S.  Senate  in  the  place  of  Hon.  Henry  Dodge,  whose  term 
expired  on  the  4th  of  March,  1857. 

When  the  Legislature  assembled,  his  election  was  regarded  as  al- 
most certain.  But  no  sooner  had  the  canvass  for  Senator  fairly 
opened,  than  a  novel  question  was  raised  in  the  party,  for  an  explana- 
tion of  which  it  is  necessary  to  refer  to  events  that  had  transpired 

149 


TIMOTHY    O.    HOWE. 

some  years  before.  In  1854  a  fugitive  slave  from  Missouri  was 
arrested  at  Racine,  Wisconsin,  taken  to  Milwaukee,  and  there 
thrown  into  jail  for  security,  while  the  master  was  engaged  in  com- 
plying with  the  legal  forms  necessary  to  enable  him  to  reclaim  his 
human  property.  The  fugitive  had  been  treated  with  great  bar- 
barity at  the  time  of  his  arrest,'  and  popular  feeling,  inflamed  by  this 
circumstance,  and  by  detestation  of  Slavery  and  the  Fugitive  Slave 
act,  became  so  turbulent  that  it  resulted  in  the  organization  of  a  mob 
which  broke  open  the  jail,  released  the  fugitive,  and  sent  him  to  Can- 
ada. Some  of  the  prominent  actors  in  this  proceeding  were  arrested 
for  violating  the  provisions  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  but  were  re- 
leased upon  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  partly  upon  technical  grounds, 
and  partly  on  the  ground  that  the  Fugitive  Slave  act  was  unconsti- 
tutional. Subsequently  the  case  came  before  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State,  and  one  of  the  Judges  delivered  a  very  elaborate  opinion, 
pronouncing  the  Fugitive  act  unconstitutional,  and  affirming  tjie 
most  ultra  doctrines  of  the  State  Rights  school  of  Southern  politi- 
cians, but  applying  them  to  the  detriment  instead  of  the  support  of 
slavery.  The  decision  became  at  once  immensely  popular  with  a 
great  number  of  radical  anti-slavery  men  in  the  State,  and  was 
thought  by  them  to  be  an  admirable  example  of  capturing  the  guns 
of  an  enemy  and  turning  them  against  him.  This  class  of  Republi- 
cans regarded  what  they  termed  an  anti-State  Rights  Republican  as 
a  little  worse  than  an  out  and  out  pro-slavery  Democrat.  Accord- 
ingly, when  the  senatorial  election  approached,  in  the  winter  of  1857, 
the  friends  of  other  candidates  raised  the  cry  of  State  Rights,  and 
averred  that  Judge  Howe  was  unsound  on  that  issue.  In  a  caucus 
of  the  Republican  members  of  the  Legislature  a  resolution  was 
adopted  in  substance  identical  with  the  first  of  the  celebrated  Ken- 
tucky resolutions  of  1798,  declaring  the  right  of  each  State  to  be  the 
final  judge  of  the  constitutionality  of  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
in  case  of  infractions  upon  what  it  held  to  be  its  rights,  that  it  should 
determine  for  itself  as  to  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress.  Each 
of  the  candidates  was  requested  to  declare  whether  or  not  he  ap- 
proved of  the  doctrines  of  the  resolution.  Judge  Howe  alone  re- 

150 


TIMOTHY    O.    HOWE.  5 

fused  to  endorse  them.  He  preferred  to  remain  a  private  citizen 
rather  than  secure  a  seat  in  the  Senate  by  endorsing  doctrines  which 
he  regarded  as  unsupported  by  the  Constitution,  and  in  practice  fatal 
to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union.  The  result  was  that  he  was  de- 
feated, and  the  Hon.  James  E.  Doolittle  elected.  But  his  defeat  on 
such  grounds  attached  to  him,  by  the  strongest  ties  of  per- 
sonal esteem  and  devotion,  a  large  body  of  influential  mem- 
bers of  the  party  who  were  in  harmony  with  him  on  the 
question  of  State  Sovereignty.  They  agreed  with  their  opponents 
that  the  Fugitive  Slave  law  was  an  infamous  statute,  and  they  thought 
it  unconstitutional ;  but  they  denied  that  a  State  court  possessed  the 
right  of  passing  final  judgment  upon  a  law  of  the  United  States.  Upon 
this  question  a  dangerous  division  continued  among  the  Republicans  of 
Wisconsin,  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion.  Judge  Howe  was 
the  leader  of  the  Republicans  who  repudiated  the  State  Sovereignty 
theory.  At  every  Republican  State  Convention  the  question  arose,  and 
the  opponents  of  State  Sovereignty,  only  by  dint  of  the  most  strenu- 
ous efforts,  succeeded  in  fighting  off  an  endorsement  of  the  principle 
in  the  Republican  platform  of  the  State.  On  two  occasions,  once  be- 
fore a  Republican  State  Convention,  and  again  in  the  Assembly  Cham- 
ber during  the  session  of  the  Legislature,  Judge  Howe  met  in  debate 
the  ablest  and  most  brilliant  champions  of  the  State  Sovereignty  the- 
ory, the  Hon.  Carl  Schurz,  then  a  resident  of  Wisconsin,  and  Judge 
A.  D.  Smith,  the  author  of  the  opinion  pronouncing  the  Fugitive  law 
null  and  void,  and  achieved  a  signal  victory  over  them  in  the  argu- 
ment of  the  question.  The  next  senatorial  election  in  Wisconsin  occur  - 
red  in  the  winter  of  1861.  In  the  prftended  secession  of  the  Southern 
States,  justified  upon  the  ground  of  the  sovereignty  of  each  State,  the 
people  had  a  practical  illustration  of  the  ultimate  consequence  of  the 
doctrine.  It  was  the  vindication  of  Judge  Howe.  The  quality  of 
his  Republicanism  was  no  longer  questioned,  and  a  Republican  Leg- 
islature elected  him  to  the  Senate.  From  that  time  to  the  present 
!ie  has  borne  himself  in  all  the  new  and  perplexing  crises,  that  have 
occurred  in  our  political  history  in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure 
the  approbation  of  his  constituents,  and  the  esteem  and  confidence  of 

151 


6  TIMOTHY    O.    HOWE. 

his  associates.  During  the  war  he  served  on  the  Senate  Committee 
on  Finance,  and  several  minor  committees,  and  in  the  Fortieth  Con- 
gress was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Claims,  and  a  member  of 
the  Committee  on  Appropriations,  and  on  the  Public  Library.  He. 
\vas  among  the  earliest  advocates  of  Emancipation,  of  Universal  Suf- 
frage, and  of  the  right  and  expediency  of  establishing  Territorial  Gov- 
ernments over  those  districts  of  country  in  which  Civil  Government 
was  overthrown  by  Rebellion.  As  a  consequence  he  was  among  the 
foremost  of  those  who  took  issue  with  the  policy  of  President  John- 
son—and some  of  his  ablest  speeches  in  the  Senate  were  delivered  in 
the  winter  of  1865-1866,  at  the  time  when  the  division  between  the 
Radical  and  the  Johnson  Republicans  began  to  assume  the  form  of 
an  open  rupture. 

Upon  the  expiration  of  his  term,  in  1867,  Senator  Howe  was  re- 
elected.  Few  representatives  have  ever  received  so  signal  evidence 
of  the  esteem  and  'confidence  of  their  constituency  as  was  awarded 
him  on  that  occasion.  Every  Republican  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture favored  his  re-election.  Xo  other  candidate  was  spoken  of. 
He  was  the  unanimous  choice  of  his  party.  In  his  senatorial  career, 
he  had  displayed  so  much  of  ability,  so  much  of  consistency  and 
steadfast  adherence  to  principle,  that  the  people  of  his  State  de- 
manded his  re-election  with  unexampled  unanimity.  As  a  conse- 
quence, no  legislative  caucus  was  held  to  nominate  a  candidate  for 
Senator,  and  Mr.  Howe  received  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Repub- 
lican members  w^ien  the  election  occurred. 

In  politics,  as  may  be  gathered  from  the  above,  Senator  Howe 
is  a  Radical.  He  would  abridge  no  man's  rights  on  account  oi 
creed,  or  race,  or  complexion.  As  a  speaker,  he  is  deliberate  and 
impressive,  with  a  ready  command  of  language  and  all  the  resources 
of  extemporaneous  oratory.  He  appears,  indeed,  to  the  best  advan- 
tage in  the  sudden  exigencies  of  debate,  the  excitement  of  the  occa- 
sion stimulating  his  faculties,  and  rousing  them  to  the  fullest  action. 
In  private  life,  he  is  social  and  genial,  attaching  men  to  him  by  his 
cordiality  and  frankness,  and  winning  their  enduring  respect  by  his 
purity  of  character  and  genuine  worth. 

153 


H  O  N  J  O  H  N   3  H  E  R  MA!  ^ 

SENATOR   FP.OM  OlilC 


•••n.     . 


».  busiu 


2  JOHN    SHERMAN. 

old,  lie  obtained  a  license  to  practice  law,  and  immediately  entered 
into  a  partnership  with  his  brother,  which  lasted  for  eleven  years. 
Entering  at  once  upon  an  extensive  practice,  he  soon  obtained  a  wide 
reputation  as  a  laborious,  honest,  and  successful  lawyer. 

In  politics,  John  Sherman  took  a  profound  interest,  although,  as 
an  ardent  Whig,  in  a  strongly  Democratic  district,  he  had  no  hope 
of  obtaining  office.  He  was  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  Whig  National 
Conventions  of  1848  and  1852,  and  in  the  latter  year  was  chosen  a 
Presidential  Elector. 

When  the  Nebraska  issue  arose  in  1854,  he  felt  the  necessity  of 
combining  all  the  elements  of  opposition  against  the  further  exten- 
sion of  Slavery,  and  earnestly  labored  to  build  up  the  political  organ- 
ization which  soon  developed  into  the  Kepublican  party.  He  ac- 
cepted a  nomination  for  Representative  in  Congress,  from  the  Thir- 
teenth Ohio  District,  and,  to  his  surprise,  was  elected.  He  entered 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress,  fully 
equipped  for  useful  and  successful  public  service.  Fluent  in  debate, 
patient  of  details,  laborious  in  investigation,  conciliatory  in  temper, 
and  persistent  in  purpose,  he  entered  at  once  upon  a  successful  con- 
gressional career. 

In  the  first  session  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress,  he  served  upon 
the  Kansas  Investigating  Committee,  and  prepared  the  famous  re- 
port which  the  Committee  presented  to  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  to  the  country.  This  brought  him  at  once  into  honorable  prom- 
inence before  the  people.  At  the  close  of  the  session  the  Repub- 
lican members  of  the  House,  through  the  influence  of  Mr.  Sherman, 
adopted  the  amendment  to  the  Army  Bill,  denying  the  validity  of 
the  slavery-extending  laws  of  Congress.  Had  the  Republican  party 
stood  upon  that  declaration  as  a  platform,  they  would  probably  have 
carried  the  presidential  election  of  1856.  Mr.  Sherman  wrote  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  elaborating  the  principle 
contained  in  that  declaration.  Although  it  was  agreed  upon  by  the 
Republican  members  of  the  House,  Mr.  Seward  and  other  Senators 
dissented,  and  the  doctrine  was  not  promulgated. 

In  the  Thirty-fifth  Congress,  Mr.  Sherman  took  an  active  part  in 
154 


JOHN    SHERMAN.  3 

the  heated  contest  over  the  Lecompton  Constitution  and  the  En- 
glish Bill,  and  made  many  powerful  speeches.  He  served  as  Chair- 
man of  the  Naval  Investigating  Committee  which  made  a  most  dam- 
aging exposure  of  the  complicity  of  Buchanan  and  Toucey  with  the 
crimes  of  the  slavery  propagandists.  He  made  an  important  speech 
upon  the  public  expenditure,  which  was  widely  circulated  as  a  cam- 
paign document. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress  occurred  the  memor- 
able contest  for  the  Speakership,  in  which  Mr.  Sherman  was  the  can- 
didate of  the  Republicans.  He  had  signed  a  recommendation  of 
Helper's  "  Impending  Crisis,"  and  this  was  made  the  pretext  by  the 
Southern  members  for  a  violent  opposition  to  his  election.  Through 
a  long  series  of  ballotings  he  lacked  but  one  or  two  votes  of  an  elec- 
tion. In  order  to  secure  an  organization,  his  name  was  finally  with- 
drawn, and  Mr.  Pennington  was  elected.  Mr.  Sherman  was  at  once 
honored  with  the  Chairmanship  gf  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means,  by  virtue  of  which  he  became  leader  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. He  distinguished  himself  as  chairman  of  this  committee 
by  putting  through  the  House  the  Merrill  Tariff,  a  measure  greatly 
promotive  of  material  prosperity  to  the  country. 

In  an  important  speech,  delivered  in  reply  to  Pendleton,  February, 
1861,  he  displayed  a  statesmanlike  perception  of  the  result  of  the 
conflict  to  which  the  South  was  rushing  with  such  arrogant  confi- 
dence, predicting  that  slavery  would  be  destroyed,  and  that  the  North 
would  triumph. 

Mr.  Sherman  was  elected  as  a  Representative  to  the  Thirty-seventh 
Congress,  but  on  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Chase,  as  a  United  States 
Senator,  he  was  elected  by. the  Legislature  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate. 
He  was  placed  upon  the  most  important  committee  of  the  Senate, 
that  of  Finance.  He  introduced  the  National  Bank  Bill,  and  had 
charge  of  that  important  measure,  as  well  as  of  the  Legal  Tender 
Acts,  on  the  floor  and  in  the  debates. 

His  labors  were  chiefly  confined  to  finance  and  taxation — to  pro- 
viding money  and  maintaining  credit  to  carry  on  the  war.  In  Jan- 
uary, 1863,  he  delivered  a  speech  against  the  continuance  of  the 

155 


4:  JOHN    SHERMAN. 

State  Banking  system,  and  one  in  favor  of  the  National  Banks,  both 
of  which  were  of  decisive  influence. 

In  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  he  introduced  a  bill  to  fund  the  pub- 
lic indebtedness,  which  if  passed^  would  have  resulted  in  the  saving 
of  $20,000,000  of  interest  per  annum,  the  wider  dissemination  of 
the  loan  among  the  masses,  and  the  removal  of  the  debt  from  its  pre- 
sent injurious  competition  with  railroad,  mercantile,  manufacturing, 
and  all  the  other  vital  interests  of  the  country.  Unfortunately  for  the 
public  interests,  the  bill  was  mutilated  in  the  Senate  and  defeated  in 
the  House. 

In  the  second  session  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  Mr.  Sherman 
proposed  the  substitute  for  the  Reconstruction  bill  which  finally  be- 
came a  law. 

In  the  Fortieth  Congress,  Mr.  Sherman  was  Chairman  of  the 
Senate  Finance  Committee,  and  In  this  important  position  exerted 
a  marked  effect  upon  Congressional  legislation.  In  the  second 
session  he  reported  a 'new  bill  for  funding  the  National  Debt,  and 
converting  the  notes  of  the  United  States.  He  advocated  this  bill  as 
a  measure  of  just  and  wise  public  policy,  in  a  speech  of  remarkable 
ability. 

In  person,  Senator  Sherman  is  tall  and  spare,  with  a  large  head,  and 
countenance  expressive  of  decision,  firmness  and  self-control.  He 
speaks  smoothly  and  rapidly,  making  no  effort  at  display,  aiming 
only  to  produce  conviction  by  clear  statement  of  facts  aril  argu- 
ments. 

158 


iON   SIMON  CAM H'. RON, 

SENATOH  KHOM  PKNNSYLVANTA. 


HON. 


in  Lancaster  County,  'Pemwyl- 
'•[arch  8th,  179!:.  left  an  orphan   at  nine 

.    -ing  his  em- 
tie 

. 

:tion 
it  of 


.     In 

' 

of  Wnr 

. 
. 

.'  th»it  justice 

i 


2  SIMON    CAMERON. 

ernment  foreboded  ruin,  and  deemiiig  it  yet  possible  to  impress  liis 
views  on  the  Administration,  a"nd  believing  that  the  salvation  of  the 
country  depended  on  a  change  of  policy,  he  resigned  his  office  and 
hastened  home  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  mighty  struggle.  The 
Government  would  not  yet  yield  to  the  growing  pressure  for  vigorous 
measures,  and  he  threw  himself  into  the  work  of  recruiting  the  Fede- 
ral army,  and  supporting  the  Union  cause  in  Pennsylvania  and  the 
loyal  States.  At  last,  the  negroes  were  accepted  for  soldiers,  and, 
finding  that  the  work  of  their  enlistment  was  unpopular,  he  offered 
his  services  to  Mr.  Lincoln  to  recruit  a  brigade  of  negro  soldiers  for 
the  war,  and  lead  them.  His  offer  being  declined,  he  continued  to 
devote  himself  to  the  Union  cause,  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability,  until 
the  end  of  the  war.  In  1867  he.was  elected  for  the  third  time  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  for  the  term  ending  in  1873,  and  taking 
his  seat  in  that  body  he  was  placed  on  the  Committees  on  Foreign 
Kelations,  Military  Affairs,  and  Ordnance,  and  was  made  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Agriculture.  He  was  steadfast  in  his  opposi- 
tion to  the  policy  of  the  late  Executive,  and  voted  for  conviction  in 
the  great  Impeachment  Trial.  ' 

He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  [Republican  party,  and,  in  1860, 
was  prominent  as  a  candidate  for  nomination  to  the  Presidency. 
Whether  in  the  cabinet,  on  diplomatic  duty,  or  in  senatorial  service, 
he  has  been  unswerving  in  his  adherence  to  Kepublican  principles. 
If  not  unanimously  allowed  the  highest  rank  in  statesmanship,  he  is 
acknowledged  to  be  unsurpassed  in  shrewdness  as  a  politician. 
Eminently  successful  as  a  financier,  he  uses  his  wealth  with  great 
public  spirit  and  liberality  in  promoting  worthy  ends. 

158 


V/M    ISi    STEWART 


.LI AM    M.    STEWART. 


•  H  M.  STFWART  v.-ubU>ra  in  Wayne  County,  ISTew 

Angust  When  eight  years  old  .he  re- 

'.h,  bits  father  to  Trambull  County,  Ohio.     He 

-auuuur,  and  attended  school  in  winter,  until 

ten  iu>  Joi't  hotiit;  with  the  consent  of  his  parents 

..^  tor  var>  is,  *t.  six,  eight,  and  twelve 

that  year  he  drove  a 

"Iphia,  the  first 

oa,  and  wont  on 

into  the  Navy. 

badly  treated,  and  thinking  the  situa- 
toOhio. 

.  Ohio,  and 
i mi  rc- 
" 

•  lie  sstarted  tor  California,  and  ,irm 

ri  the  following  April.     He  worked  two 
•:ed    success.     He  ran  for  Sheriff 
•lit  there  being  sever. 

by  a  few 
the  t-ill  of 
'•ict- Attorney  o) 

1 

' 

';ciseo 


2  WILLIAM    M.    STEWART. 

and  formed  a  law  partnership  with  Ex-Governor  Henry  S.  Foote  of 
Mississippi,  and  Judge  Aldrich,  which  continued  about  two  years.  In 
the  fall  of  1855  he  married  a  daughter  of  Governor  Foote,  and  went 
back  to  Nevada,  where  he  remained  practicing  law  until  1857.  He 
then  went  to  D'ownieville,  where  there  was  a  great  deal  of  litigation 
growing  out  of  mining  disputes.  He  got  the  lead  of  the  practice, 
and  received  very  heavy  fees.  In  the  spring  of  1860  he  went  to  the 
Territory  of  Utah  —  now  Nevada — where  he  was  employed  by  the 
first  locators  of  the  Comstock  Lode  to  manage  their  heavy  liti- 
gations. 

When  the  Legislature  was  organized,  he  was  in  the  Territorial 
Council.  He  took  an  active  part  in  organizing  the  Union  party, 
and  in  1863  he  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention. 
On  the  admission  of  Nevada  into  the  Union,  he  was  elected*  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  was  admitted  to  his  seat  February  1st, 
1865.  His  term  closing  in  1869,  he  was  re-elected  for  the  term 
ending  in  1875. 

Upon  his  entrance  into  the  Senate,  he  was  appointed  to  the  im- 
portant Committees  on  the  Judiciary;  Public  Lands,  Pacific  Rail- 
road, and  Mines  and  Mining.  Of  the  last-named  committee  he  was 
in  the  Forty -first  Congress  appointed  chairman. 

He  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  important  discussions  of  the 
Thirty -ninth  and  Fortieth  Congresses.  In  February,  1866,  he 
made  a  speech,  occupying  parts  of  two  days  in  its  deliver}7,  in  which 
he  maintained  the  right  of  the  loyal  people  in  the  recent  rebel  States 
to  be  represented  in  Congress.  On  the  24th  of  May.  1866,  he  made 
a  speech,  of  three  hours'  duration,  on  a  pending  Constitutional 
Amendment,  in  which  he  advocated  "  pardon  for  the  rebels,  and  the 
ballot  for  the  blacks."  He  stood  in  the  Fortieth  Congress  among 
the  firm  opponents  of  President  Johnson's  policy.  He  is  a  ready 
and  effective  off-hand  debater,  never  thrown  off  his  guard,  and  never 
losing  his  good  humor. 

160 


HON  WTL1  .LAM  r.PHAGIJE 

SF.NATGH  F:-CM  HHODR  THLAUH 


,  UE. 


M  SPRA 

S^-  • 

' 

•  - 

. 

- 
,;ior  of  E!I 

. 
' 

0 

' 

' 


2  WILLIAM    SPRAGUE. 

his  first  term  in  the  Senate,  he  seldom  spoke,  but  in  March  and 
April,  1869,  he  startled  the  Senate  and  the  country  by  a  series  of 
remarkable  speeches  on  national  affairs.  The  first  was  on  "  The 
Financial  Condition,"  and  depicted  ruin  in  store  for  the  country 
unless  it  should  pause  in  the  "  forced  policy  pursued  since  the  close 
of  the  war."  Two  speeches  on  the  Civil  Tenure  Act  drew  glowing 
pictures  of  the  future  of  the  country  under  "  a  government  of 
lawyers  and  judges,  educated  in  one  line,  practiced  in  one  pursuit ; 
educated  upon  the  quarrels  and  the  exhibitions  of  the  worst  passions 
of  human  nature ;  practiced  in  the  dissensions,  influenced  by  the 
vices  of  the  people."  Speeches  on  "  The  National  Currency  "  and 
"The  Tax  Bill  "  presented  the  injurious  effects  upon  the  country  of 
large  accumulation  of  capital,  illustrated  by  reference  to  prominent 
citizens  of  Rhode  Island. 

Mr.  Sprague  is  somewhat  slight  in  person — with  a  grave  expres- 
sion, and  thoughtful  attitude.  Retiring  and  reticent,  he  has  none  of 
the  qualities  of  the  noisy  demagogue.  Although  the  richest  man  in 
Congress,  he  makes  no  personal  ostentation  of  wealth.  As  a  speaker 
he  is  slow  and  deliberate,  uttering  his  convictions  rather  with  the 
earnestness  of  the  conversationalist  rather  than  the  art  of  an  orator. 


162 


.ON    .  I  AMES  W  NYE. 

SENATOR  FROM   NEVADA 


/ 


STYE. 


•••*  wh^  lifev?'  given  to 
a';?!'   t^rul  great  pros- 
• 

The  J*'v>rs/ ot   the  farm,  to 


• 

.  .  •  ~-  •    «*« 
>r"vo1 

'"';i- 

one  «.4'it..smera1.-  '":>nt 

•ity.ofNew 

..-ampaign  which 

liictiou  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  I860,  Mr.  Nye  was  one  of 

ont  workow,  by  lii«  cofcvmeing  !<^ic  %IH!   moring. 

winning  innltirodes  to  the  «ip|>ort  ^€  tl»e  Kei^tlktu 

- 
actively  entrap  **  *  *^4»r,  Mr,  2 

He  was  H  14* 


JAMES    W.    NYE. 

such  a  man,  and  he  was  accordingly  appointed  to  that  position  in 
1861.  When  Nevada  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State  he 
was  elected  United  States  Senator,  and  took  his  seat  in  1865.  Two 
years  later  he  was  re-elected  for  the  term  ending  in  1873. 

In  the  Senate  he  immediately  took  rank  among  the  most  fearless 
and  able  of  the  Kadical  Kepublicans.  Entering  Congress  just  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  he  aided  in  carrying  all  the  great  measures  of 
re-construction.  He  opposed  the  policy  of  President  Johnson,  and 
voted  for  his  conviction.  Serving  at  first  as  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  ^Revolutionary  Claims,  he  was  afterward  advanced  to 
the  more  important  position  of  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Territories. 

As  a  speaker,  Mr.  Nye  is  graceful,  fluent,  and  sometimes  eloquent. 
His  trenchant  logic  and  luminous  facts  command  the  respectful 
attention  of  the  Senate,  while  his  pungent  satire,  ready  repartee  and 
keen  wit  delight  the  popular  audience  in  the  galleries. 

164 


H  O  N.  LYMAN  T  B  U  M  BULL, 

SENATOR   PROM  IL.LWOIO 


LYli  'LL. 


•  : 


TRT^ETJLL  .loheeter,  CODTV 

( >ctober  l£'th,  3  81 3.  .  ucated  at  Bacon  Academy, 

in  his  naf  ,  ilOBO  tjraes  was  one  of  tlie 

In  bis  sixteen  r 
•:  twenty;, 

';f  an  Acft-  tbat 

liile  engaged  in  teaching,  he  « 
law  with    a  vie\ir  to    preparing    L: 

. 

Having  been  admitted  to  practice  at  the  bar  in  (4,  1337 

aioved  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Belleville,  St.  Glair  Countv:    In 
he  was  elected  a  Representative  in  the  State  ' 
1  before  he  had  served  out  his  term,  h 

f  State  of  Illinois. 
•-*,  he  returned  to  his  profession,  am! 

Court,  and,  in  1852,  was  i 
jich  he  distingui 
--•.curacy  of  judgment,  and  fauii:. 

resigned  his  place  on  the  teieh  in  1853,  and  in  the  suc- 

elected  r  lt  the  Belle vili«  then 

;tory,  in  (  .^ 

' 


• 


2  LYMAN   TRUMBULL. 

of  Congress,  took  a  bold  stand  against  the  policy  and  doctrines  of 
the  old  Democratic  party,  with  which  he  had  been  actively  identified, 
and  espoused  the  cause  of  freedom,  of  which  he  became  one  of  the 
strongest  of  champions.  He  opposed  his  colleague,  Mr.  Douglas,  in 
all  questions  having  reference  to  slavery,  and  especially  in  his  cele- 
brated "  popular  sovereignty  "  plan  of  settling  that  question  in  the 
Territories  and  future  States.  With  such  distinguished  ability  did 
he  contest  this  question  with  Mr.  Douglas  and  his  friends,  that  he  at 
once  gained  a  national  reputation. 

In  1860,  he  earnestly  and  ably  advocated  the  election  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  his  fellow-citizen  and  friend,  to  the  Presidency.  During  the 
early  part  of  the  next  year,  just  previous  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  inaugura- 
tion, and  when  the  war  of  the  rebellion  had  already  virtually  com- 
menced, Mr.  Trumbull  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Union  party  in 
the  Senate,  and  favored  prompt  and  decided  measures  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Union.  In  1861,  Mr.  Trumbull  was  re-elected  for  a 
second  term,  and  in  1867  for  a  third  term  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States. 

As  Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Senate,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  has  held  uninterruptedly  since  1861,  he  framed  and 
advocated  some  of  the  most  important  acts  which  were  passed  by 
Congress  during  and  since  the  war.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  pro- 
pose the  amendment  of  the  Constitution  abolishing  Slavery  in  the 
United  States,  which  proposition  passed  Congress,  and  was  ratified 
by  the  requisite  votes  of  two-thirds  of  the  States. 

He  ably  advocated  the  acts  establishing  and  enlarging  the  Freed- 
man's  Bureau,  and  eloquently  championed  the  Civil  Rights  Bill. 
He  voted  for  the  acquittal  of  President  Johnson  on  the  Articles  of 
Impeachment. 

Senator  Trumbull  continued  his  residence  at  Belleville  until  1849, 
when  he  removed  to  Alton,  and  subsequently,  in  1863,  to  Chicago, 
where  he  now  resides.  He  is  of  medium  stature,  with  a  cast  of 
countenance  which  marks  the  man  of  thought.  Lacking  the  warmth 
of  temperament  calculated  to  win  personal  friendship,  he  possesses 
talents  which  command  universal  respect. 

166 


OLP  EOETON, 


LIA 

•  lien  he  - 

^ .  -ire  of  a  grandmother  and 

le  served  for  a  whi! 

ploy- 
• 
. 

i 

• 
Jle  diq 

TS  of   tllO  ^ 

••  ircuit  Court.      ; 

bill.      Mr. 

<•  Indiana.     He  made  a  thoro<- 

•  ithhis  !)<•= 
,  ..-rtul,  championed  by 

• 
. 


2  OLIVER    P.    MORTON. 

Anticipating  the  importance  of  the  great  political  struggle  of  1860, 
the  Eepublicans  of  Indiana  made  an  exceedingly  strong  ticket,  with 
Heriiy  S.  Lane  for  Governor;  and  Oliver  P.  Morton  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor — both  unsurpassed  for  eloquence  and  effectiveness  in  politi 
cal  debate.  The  Republican  State  ticket  was  triumphantly  elected 
in  October,  and,  in  November,  Indiana  stood  in  the  unbroken  col- 
umn of  Northern  States  that  elected  Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  Presi- 
dency. 

On  the  14th  of  January,  1861,  Mr.  Morton,  entering  upon  the 
office  of  Lieutenant-Governor,  took  his  seat  as  President  of  the  State 
Senate.  He  occupied  this  position  but  two  days,  when,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  election  of  Henry  S.  Lane  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  he  became  Governor  of  Indiana. 

Never  before  had  a  Governor  of  the  State  been  inaugurated  amid 
circumstances  so  difficult  and  trying.  The  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  the  presidency  was  used  as  a  pretext  for  rebellion,  which  was 
already  showing  its  formidable  front  in  various  portions  of  the  South. 
The  State  of  Indiana  was  divided  on  the  question  of  the  right  of 
secession.  Men  were  heard  to  say  in  the  State  Legislature,  that  they 
would  rather  take  their  muskets  and  assist  the  Southern  people  to 
obtain  their  independence,  than  to  support  the  Government.  The 
Southern  traitors  believed  that  should  the  Administration  pursue  a 
coercive  policy,  Indiana  would  secede  and  join  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy. To  repress  treason,  to  foster  loyalty,  and  hold  the  entire 
State  true  to  the  Union,  and-  to  hurl  its  concentrated  moral  and  phy- 
sical force  against  the  rising  rebellion,  constituted  the  extraordinary 
work  before  the  newly-inaugurated  Governor. 

Convinced  of  the  importance  of  prompt  action  in  defence  of  the 
Government,  he  visited  the  President  in  person,  and  assured  him  that 
if  he  would  adopt  a  vigorous  policy,  Indiana  would  support  him. 
Soon  after  his  visit  to  Washington,  the  bombardment  of  Fort 
Sumter  inaugurated  actual  hostilities  and  produced  the  great  upris- 
ing of  the  North. 

Upon  receiving  the  President's  proclamation,  Governor  Morton 
issued  calls  to  every  part  of  the  State  for  men.  Forty  thousand 


OLIVER    P.    MORTON.  3 

men,  more  than  six  times  the  number  required,  volunteered  for  the 
defence  of  the  Union.  In  three  days,  six  regiments,  the  quota  of 
the  State,  were  in  readiness  for  service,  fully  armed  and  equipped. 
Twenty  regiments  were  tendered  in  addition,  and  when  they  were 
not  accepted  by  the  Government,  most  of  them  were  mustered  into 
the  State  service,  put  in  camp  and  drilled  until  the  time  came  when 
the  Government  was  glad  to  take  them. 

No  sooner  were  their  first  troops  in  the  field  than  the  Governor  sent 
agents  to  look  after  their  interests,  to  see  that  their  necessities  were 
supplied  while  in  health',  and  that  they  were  properly  cared  for  when 
sick. 

To  meet  the  extraordinary  emergencies  of  the  occasion,  Governor 
Morton  called  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature.  His  message  .to 
this  body,  delivered  April  25th,  1861,  was  a  patriotic  and  eloquent 
presentation  of  the  true  relations  of  the  States  to  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, and  the  duty  of  Indiana  to  aid  in  crushing  the  rebellion. 

During  the  extra  session  of  the  General  Assembly  the  labors  of 
the  Executive  Department  were  augmented  to  an  extent  never 
before  equalled  in  the  history  of  the  State.  Great  discernment  and 
discretion  were  exercised  by  the  Governor  in  the  selection  of  men  to 
aid  in  recruiting,  organizing  and  equipping  the  regiments.  He 
laid  aside  party  prejudices,  and,  in  dispensing  favors,  rather  showed 
partiality  to  his  former  political  foes  than  to  his  friends.  Loyalty 
•and  capacity  were  the  only  qualifications  for  position  which  he  de- 
manded, and  during  the  early  stages  of  the  war  he  appeared  to  look 
for  these  in  the  Democratic  party. 

The  doubtful  attitude  of  the  State  of  Kentucky  gave  additional 
anxiety  and  labor  to  the  Governor  of  Indiana.  Governor  Magoffin, 
at  heart  a  secessionist,  had  refused  most  positively  to  respond  to  the 
President's  call  for  volunteers.  While  making  professions  of  a  desire 
to  hold  Kentucky  in  a  neutral  position,  he  was  really  rendering  the 
rebels  all  the  aid  in  his  power.  He  artfully  laid  his  plans  to  induce 
Indiana,  Ohio,  and  other  Northern  border  States,  to  assume  the  char- 
acter of  sovereign-  mediators  between  the  Government  and  the 
seceded  States.  To  his  overtures  Governor  Morton  promptly  re- 

169 


4  OLIVER    P.    MORTON. 

sponded,  "  There  is  no  ground  in  the  Constitution,  midway  between 
the  Government  and  a  rebellious  State,  upon  which  another  State 
can  stand,  holding  both  in  check.  A  State  must  take  her  stand 
upon  one  side  or  the  other ;  and  I  invoke  the  State  of  Kentucky,  by 
all  the  sacred  ties  that  bind  us  together,  to  take  her  stand  with  Indi- 
ana, promptly  and  efficiently,  on  the  side  of  the  Union." 

From  this  time  until  the  close  of  Magoffin's  administration,  Gov- 
ernor Morton  was  practically  the  governor  of  Kentucky.  He  dis- 
patched numerous  secret  agents  to  watch  the  movements  of  Ken- 
tucky secessionists.  Thus  he  was  constantly  advised  in  reference  to 
the  traitorous  designs  of  Kentucky  rebels  and  their  Confederate 
allies.  In  view  of  the  defenceless  condition  of  the  Indiana  and  Ohio 
border,  he  urged  upon  the  President  and  the  War  Department  the 
importance  of  gunboats  and  fortifications  along  the  Ohio  river. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  difficulties  in  Kentucky  he  unremit- 
tingly pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  Government  the  necessity 
of  taking  decided  steps  toward  the  occupation  of  the  State  by  the 
United  States  forces. 

On  the  16th  of  September,  1861,  Governor  Morton  learned,  through 
one  of  his  secret  agents,  that  the  rebel  General  Zollicoffer  had 
marched*  his  brigade  through  Cumberland  Gap,  into  Kentucky.  On 
the  same  day  General  Buckner,  who  had  for  some  time  been  sta- 
tioned at  Bowling  Green  in  command  of  a  body  of  "  neutral  State 
Guards,"  set  out  with  his  men  for  Louisville.  General  Eousseau  had 
organized  a  brigade  at  Jefferson ville,  Indiana,  but  out  of  respect  for 
Kentucky's  neutrality  was  ordered  to  St.  Louis.  Governor  Morton, 
having  been  apprised  of  the  movements  of  Zollicoffer  and  Buckner, 
had  General  Rousseau's  marching  orders  countermanded.  He  was 
ordered  to  cross  the  Ohio  into  Kentucky  ;  thus  Louisville  was  saved 
from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  and  the  fatal  charm  of  neu- 
trality was  broken. 

Governor  Morton  withdrew  his  secret  agents  and  appealed  to 
the  people  of  Indiana  to  render  all  possible  aid  in  rescuing  Ken- 
tucky from  the  hands  of  the  secessionists.  •  Many  regiments 
responded  to  the  call,  and  ere  the  lapse  of  many  months  Bowling 

lib 


OLIVER    P.    MORTON.  5 

Green,  a  strongly  fortified  position,  was  occupied  by  a  Federal  force 
Zollicoffer  was  defeated  and  slain  at  Mill-spring,  and  the  'soil  of 
Kentucky  cleared  of  rebel  troops. 

The  important  agency  of  Governor  Morton  in  bringing  about 
these  results  was  universally  acknowledged.  The  "  Louisville  Jour- 
nal "  said  of  him,  "  He  has  been,  emphatically,  Kentucky's  guardian 
spirit  from  the  very  commencement  of  the  dangers  that  now  darkly 
threaten  her  very  existence.  Kentucky  and  the  whole  country  owe 
him  a  large  debt  of  gratitude.  Oh,  that  all  the  public  functionaries 
of  the  country  were  as  vigilant,  as  clear-sighted,  as  energetic,  as 
fearless,  as  chivalric,  as  he." 

The  wants  of  Indiana  troops  in  Missouri,  West  Yirginia,  and 
the  Department  of  the  Potomac,  received  his  constant  attention,  and 
his  numerous  efficient  agents  were  actively  employed  in  every  camp 
where  Indiana  regiments  were  stationed. 

The  reverses  of  the  national  arms  had  such  a  discouraging  effect 
upon  the  country,  that  in  most  of  the  States  the  work  of  recruiting 
progressed  slowly.  Not  so  in  Indiana.  The  faithfulness  of  Gov- 
enor  Morton  in  looking  after  his  soldiers,  and  providing  for  their 
families  at  home,  inspired  the  people  of  Indiana  with  such  a  degree 
of  confidence  that  tre  volunteering  spirit  among  them  did  not  abate 
because  of  national  disasters,  andby-the  llth  of  December,  1861,  an 
aggregate  of  forty-four  volunteer  regiments  from  Indiana  were  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States. 

The  approach  of  the  first  winter  of  the  war  seemed  likely  to  find 
large  numbers  of  our  troops  almost  destitute  of  comfortable  clothing, 
owing  to  the  misappropriation  of  supplies,  by  incompetent  and  un- 
principled quartermasters.  Governor  Morton  sought  to  remedy  this 
deficiency,  so  far  as  the  Indiana  troops  were  concerned,  by  taking  the 
matter  of  supplying  them  with  clothing  into  his  own  hands.  Not- 
withstanding the  obstructions  thrown  in  his  way,  and  the  insults 
offered  him  by  thieving  officials,  by  indefatigable  energy,  he  carried 
his  points,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  being  assured  by  his  messen- 
gers that  his  soldiers  woul<^  not  suffer  from  lack  of  clothing  amid  the 
rigors  of  winter  in  the  mountains  of  Western  Yirginia. 

171 


Q  OLIVER    P.    MORTON. 

.Governor  Morton's  popularity  among  the  soldiers,  and  his  reputa- 
tion in  "other  States,  having  excited  the  jealousy  of  certain  ambitious 
politicians,  they  gave  currency  to  vague  charges  of  mismanagement 
in  State  military  matters,  of  corruption  in  the  appointment  of  officer?, 
and  the  awarding  of  contracts.  In  compliance  with  Governor  Mor- 
ton's urgent  request,  a  Congressional  Investigating  Committee  visited 
Indianapolis,  and  made  rigid  inquiry  into  the  management  of  mili- 
itary  matters  in  Indiana.  The  published  report  of  the  proceedings 
of  this  committee  not  only  exonerates  him  from  all  blame,  but  shows 
the  greatest  care  on  his  part  to  prevent  fraud  and  peculation.  It 
was  stated  by  this  committee  that,  notwithstanding  the  Indiana  troops 
had  been  better  armed  and  equipped  than  those  of  any  other  west- 
ern State,  the  expense  attending  their  outfit  was  less,  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  men  furnished,  than  that  of  any  other  State  in  the 
Union. 

Governor  Morton  steadily  rose  in  the  estimation  of  the  President 
and  the  Cabinet,  until  his  influence  became  greater  in  Washington 
than  that  of  any  other  man  in  the  country  outside  the  Executive  De- 
partments. Many  times  was  his  presence  requested  in  Washington, 
and  his  counsel  solicited  in  matters  of  the  greatest  moment  to  the 
Government. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  1862,  more  than  one  hundred  thou- 
sand men  had  enlisted  from  Indiana  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States.  Most  of  these  being  Kepublicans,  their,  absence  greatly  de- 
pleted the  strength  of  the  party  at  home.  Mismanagement  of  officers 
and  reverses  in  the  field  had  cooled  the  ardor  of  many  who  had  been 
supporters  of  the  war.  These  causes  operated  to  produce  a  defeat 
of  the  Republican  party  in  Indiana  in  the  autumn  of  1862,  and  the 
election  of  Democratic  State  officers,  and  a  majority  of  the  Legis- 
lature. Fortunately  for  the  State,  Governor  Morton  held  over,  hav- 
ing been  elected  for  a  term  of  four  years.  He  stood  as  the  sole  ob- 
stacle in  the  path  of  reckless  men  who  desired  to  drag  the  State  into 
alliance  with  the  rebels. 

'  The  Governor  transmitted  to  the  Legislature  a  message  in  which  he 
accurately  set  'forth  the  condition  of  the  State,  and  with   calmness 

173 


OLIVER    P.    MORTON.  7 

and  dignity  made  such  suggestions  as  were  appropriate  to  the  emer- 
gencies of  the  State  and  Nation.  The  Legislature  insultingly  refused 
to  accept  this  message,  and  by  a  joint  resolution  complimented,  and 
virtually  adopted,  the  message  of  Governor  Seymour  of  New  York. 

The  Democratic  majority  in  caucus  drew  up  a  bill  designejd  to 
take  all  the  military  power  of  the  State  away  from  the  Governor, 
and  place  it  in  the  hands  of  four  Democratic  State  officers.  This  bill 
was  engrossed  and  only  prevented  from  becoming  a  law  by  the  with- 
'drawal  of  the  Republican  members,  leaving  the  Legislature  without 
a  quorum.  -When  the  Legislature  was  thus  broken  up,  no  appropria- 
tions had  been-  made  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  State  government 
for  the  next  two  years,  and  Governor  Morton  must  either  call  the 
Legislature  back  at  the  risk  of  having  the  State  involved  in  civil  war, 
or  borrow  the  money  to  carry  on  the  State  government.  He  deter- 
mined to  take  the  latter  course,  and  succeeded  in  raising  nearly  two 
million  dollars,  with  which  he  paid  the  expenses  of  the  State  gov- 
ernment and  the  interest  on  the  State  debt.  The  money  was  bor- 
rowed from  loyal  counties  in  the  State,  from  railroad  companies, 
banks,  private  persons,  and  from  the  house  of  Winslow,  Lanier  & 
Co.,  in  New  Tork.  During  these  two  years  he  acted  as  Auditor 
and  Treasurer  of  State,  kept  the  accounts  in  his  own  office,  and  dis- 
bursed the  money  upon  his  own  checks.  The  next  Legislature  ex- 
amined his  accounts,  and  adopted  them  without  the  slightest  excep- 
tion, paid  up  all  his  borrowed  money,  and  thus  relieved  him  of  the 
great  responsibilities  he  had  incurred. 

The  most  persistent  and  dangerous  opposition  to  Governor  Mor- 
ton's administration  was  a  secret  association,  popularly  known  as 
"  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle."  It  had  a  lodgement  in  every  sec- 
tion of  the  State,  but  became  most  numerous  in  those  places  where  the 
people,  not  having  frequent  access  to  the  mediums  of  public  intelli- 
gence, became  readily  the  dupes  of  designing  men.  The  ultimate  ex- 
posure of  this  organization  showed  that  it  numbered  over  8.0,000  men, 
bound  together  by  the  most  solemn  oaths,  thoroughly  drilled  and 
ready  to  obey  the  call  of  their  masters  at  any  time. 

It  was  the  plan  and  purpose  of  the  conspirators  to  rise  and  seize 
173 


8  OLIVER    P.    MORTON. 

the  government  arsenals,  release  rebel  prisoners  at  various  points  in 
the  North,  furnish  them  with  arms,  and  after  assassinating  State  and 
United  States  officers,  to  take  forcible  possession  of  the  government. 

To  ferret  out  and  defeat  the  schemes  of  these  conspirators  was  a 
work  of  no  ordinary  magnitude,  but  it  was  fully  accomplished. 
The  Governor  employed  secret  detectives,  through  whose  activity  and 
tact  he  obtained  an  inside  view  of  almost  every  lodge  within  the  State. 
He  was  fully  informed  of  all  their  plans,  their  financial  resources,  and 
their  strength.  Large  quantities  of  arms,  consigned  to  the  conspira-' 
tors,  were  seized  and  confiscated.  Several  of  the  chiefa  of  the  con- 
spiracy were  arraigned,  tried,  convicted  of  treason  and  punished. 
The  opportune  discovery  and  exposure  of  this  plot  prevented  a  ter- 
rible outbreak  and  massacre  on  the  soil  of  Indiana,  and  rescued  the 
State  from  infamy  and  ruin. 

In  the  fall  of  1864,  Governor  Morton  was  re-elected  by  a  majority 
of  22,000  votes.  He  continued  with  energy  and  ardor  to  prosecute 
the  work  which  for  four  years  had  occupied  his  time  and  attention. 
He  continued  to  raise  soldiers,  by  volunteering  and  by  draft,  until 
the  last  call  was  more  than  met.  I 

He  passed  the  last  year  of  the  war  in  unceasing  activity.  At 
Washington,  in  council  with  the  President ;  at  the  front,  beholding  the 
brave  achievements  of  his  soldiers,  moving  in  person  through  the  hos- 
pitals to  ascertain  the  wants  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  directing  the 
operations  of  his  numerous  agents;  at  home,  superintending  sanitary 
movements,  appointing  extra  surgeons  and  sending  them  to  the  field, 
projecting  additional  measures  for  the  relief  of  dependent  women  and 
children,  and  attending  personally  to  all  the  details  of  the  business  of 
his  office — his  labors  were  unsurpassed  by  those  of  any  man  in  the 
civil  or  military  service  of  the  country. 

The  sudden  collapse  of  the  rebellion,  and  the  return  of  the  surviv- 
ing heroes  of  the  war,  varied,  but  did  not  diminish,  the  labors  of  the 
Governor  of  Indiana.  He  made  the  amplest  arrangements  for  the 
reception  and  entertainment  of  the  Indiana  volunteers  at  the  State 
capital.  Every  regiment  was  received  and  welcomed  by  him  in 
person.  He  gave  special  attention  to  the  pay  department,  and  saw 

174 


OLIVER    P.    MORTON.  9 

that  no  unnecessary  delay  detained  the  veterans  from  their  homes 
and  families. 

Finally,  the  war  being  ended,  and  the  soldiers  dismissed  to  their 
homes,  the  long  excitement  ended,  and  the  day  of  relaxation  came. 
For  five  years  his  powers  of  mind  and  body  were  taxed  to  the  ut- 
most. The  immense  weight  of  his  official  responsibilities,  the  em- 
barrassments which  beset  him,  the  gigantic  difficulties  he  had  over- 
come, had,  apparently,  made  no  inroads  upon  his  frame.  The  cessa- 
tion of  labor  and  excitement  developed  the  evil  results  of  over-work. 
In  the  summer  of  1865  he  was  attacked  with  partial  paralysis.  The 
efforts  of  physicians  to  afford  relief  were  fruitless,  and  a  change  of 
scene  and  climate  was  advised  as  the  only  means  of  obtaining  relief. 
Accordingly,  he  devolved  his  official  duties  upon  the  Lieutenant 
Governor,  and  sailed  for  Europe.  After  an  absence  of  several  months 
he  returned,  partially  relieved,  and  resumed  his  official  duties. 
,  In  January,  186Y,  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
resigning  the  Governorship,  he  took  his  seat  on  the  4th  of  March,  for 
the  term  ending  in  1873. 

In  the  Senate  he  has  not  failed  fully  to  meet  the  high  expectations 
of  the  country.  Though  somewhat  disabled  by  disease,  he  has  per- 
formed all  the  work  of  a  Statesman  and  a  Senator.  His  speeches, 
heard  by  crowded  galleries  and  an  attentive  Senate,  have  fallen  with 
marked  effect  upon  the  country.  Though  often  necessitated  to  speak 
in  a  sitting  posture,  he  retains  the  commanding  presence  and  the 
impressive  delivery  essential  to  the  highest  success  in  oratory.  Un- 
surpassed in  executive  ability,  as  proved  by  a  splendid  career  in  an- 
other field,  he  has  shown  himself  the  peer  of  the  greatest  statesmen 

in  legislative  talent. 

175 


DAVIS.-FRELINGHUYSEN. 

'ARRETT  DAYIS  was  born  at  Mount  Sterling,  Kentucky, 
September  10, 1801.  After  receiving  an  English  education, 
and  spending  some  time  in  classical  study,  he  obtained  em- 
ployment as  a  writer  in  the  County  and  Circuit  Courts  of  his  district. 
He  was  thus  familiarized  with  legal  forms,  and  was  naturally  led  into 
the  profession  of  law,  to  the  practice  of  which  he  was  admitted  in  1832. 
Ten  years  later,  he  made  his  first  appearance  in  the  State  Legislature, 
to  which  he  was  twice  re-elected.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Con- 
stitutional Convention  in  1839.  In  the  same  year  he  was  elected  a 
Kepresentative  in  Congress,  of  which  he  continued  a- member  until 
1847,  when  lie  declined  a  re-election.  In  1861  lie  was  elected  a 
U-nited  States  Senator,  and,  on  the  expiration  of  his  term,  in  1867, 
was  re-elected  for  the  term  ending  in  1873.  Though  much  im- 
mersed in  the  labors  of  his  profession  and  the  cares  of  politics,  he  has 
for  many  years  given  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits.  In  the 
early  part  of  his  political  career  he  was  a  Whig,  and  an  intimate 
personal  friend  of  Henry  Clay.  In  his  later  life  he  has  been  an  ultra 
pro-slavery  Democrat. 


[REDERICK  T.  FRELINGHUYSEN  was  bora  in  Mills- 
town,  Somerset  County,  N-ew  Jersey,  August  4,  1817.  Be- 
ing left  an  orphan,  he  was  reared  in  the  family  of  his  uncle, 
Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen.  He  graduated  at  Rutgers  College  in. 
1836,  and,  having  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1839.  He 
was  appointed  Attorney-General  of  New  Jersey  in  1861,  and  was  re- 
appointed  in  1866.  He  was  appointed,  and  subsequently  elected,  a 
Senator  in  Congress,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of 
William  Wright,  and  took  his  seat  January  24, 1867.  He  served  on 
the  committees  on  Naval  Affairs,  the  Judiciary,  and  Claims.  His 
term  of  service  expired  with  the  close  of  the  Fortieth  Congress, 
March  4,  1869.  During  his  brief  term  in  the  Senate  he  won 
golden  opinions  for  sound  statesmanship,  legal  learning,  and  forensic 
ability. 

176 


HON.  LOT  M  MORRILL. 

SENAFOR  FROM  MAINE 


:ILL. 


M. 

-•34,  at  the  age  of  tweut;  -iw-l  Waterviiio 

but  *xm  aitiT  i,:!'.  ri  i-  i  c-.inin.  !it-e  the 

H-.     Five  yeare  later  be  \7?»s  admitted  to  the  bar,  jr. 

live  part  in   \r 

• 

• 

r  ^'.y 

• 

:min- 
_ 

\vas  elected  to  the  I 

1 3  vacancy  created  by  the  resignation  of  I" 
bal  Hamlin.  He  took  his  seat  on  the  17th  of  January  of  thai 
and  in  1863  he  was  re-elected  for  the  term  ending  March  ~ 

jal  election,  for  the  ensuing  term,  the  contest  war- 
Ire  friends  of  JV!  Mr.  Hamlin.     In  the 

majority  of  one 

• 

. 
177 


PATTERSON. -HENDERSON. 

JAVID  T.  PATTERSON"  was  born  in  Greene  County,  Ten- 
nessee, February  28, 1819.  He  commenced  life  as  a  paper- 
maker,  and  subsequently  worked  as  a  miller.  He  after- 
wards adopted  the  profession  of  law,  and  settled  in  Greenville, 
where  he  married  a  daughter  of  Andrew  Johnson,  and  was  elected 
Judge  of,  the  Circuit  Court.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Convention 
that  re-organized  the  State  of  Tennessee  in  1864.  He  was  chosen  a 
delegate  to  the  Republican  National  Convention  of  1864,  and  was 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  West-Point  Military 
Academy.  He  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and  was 
admitted  to  his  seat  July  26,  1866,  for  the  term  ending  in  1869. 


°OHN  B.  HENDERSON  was  born  near  Danville,  Virginia, 
November  16,  1826.  He  removed  to  Missouri  with  his 
parents  when  a  child,  and  spent  his  boyhood  on  a  farm.  He 
obtained  an  academical  education,  and  for  several  years  engaged  in 
school-teaching.  He  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1848.  In  the  same  year  he  was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1856.  He  was  a  presidential  elector  on  the 
Buchanan  ticket,  and  in  1858  was  a  candidate  for  Congress,  but  was 
defeated  by  a  large  majority.  In  1860  he  was  an  elector  on  the 
Douglas  ticket,  pledging  himself  to  vote  for  either  Douglas  or  Bell, 
to  carry  the  State  against  Breckenridge,  the  Secession  candidate. 
He  was  again  defeated  as  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  1860.  In  the 
following  year  he  took  a  prominent  part  as  a  Union  member  of  the 
State  Convention,  called  to  determine  whether  Missouri  should 
secede.  In  June,  1861,  he  procured  arms  and  equipped  a  regiment 
of  loyal  State  militia,  and  went  into  service  with  them.  On  the  ex- 
pulsion of  Trusten  Polk  from  the .  United  States  Senate,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1862,  he  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy,  and  in  1863  was 
elected  for  the  term  ending  in  1869,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Car) 
Schurz.  • 

178  •    . 


EDMUNDS.  — ABBOTT. 

'EORGE  F.  EDMUNDS  was  bora  in  Richmond,  Vermont, 
February  1st,  1828.  After  obtaining  such  education  as  the 
common  schools  afforded,  he  received  the  instruction  of  a  pri- 
vate teacher.  He  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1849. 
For  several  years  he  devoted  himself  unremittingly,  and  with  much  suc- 
cess, to  his  profession.  In  1854  he  entered  the  Vermont  Legislature, 
and  was  several  times  re-elected,  serving  Ihree  years  as  Speaker.  On 
the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  he  aided  in  forming  a  coalition 
between  the  Republicans  and  War  Democrats,  and  drew  up  the 
resolutions  which  formed  the  basis  of  union  for  the  country.  He  was 
appointed  to  the  United  States  Senate  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned 
by  the  death  of  Solomon  Foot,  and  took  his  seat  April  5th,  1866, 
and  was  subsequently  confirmed  in  his  position  by  a  vote  of  the 
Legislature.  On  the  expiration  of  this  term,  March  4th,  1869,  he 
took  his  seat  by  re-election  for  the  full  term  of  six  years. 


'OSEPH  C.  ABBOTT  was  born  at  Concord,  New  Hampshire, 
July  15th,  1825.  Having  received  an  academic  education, 
he  studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  March,  1852. 
He  was  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  "  Manchester  American  "  for  five 
years,  and  subsequently  was  editor  of  the  "  Boston  Atlas."  In  July, 
1855,  he  was  appointed  Adjutant-General  of  New  Hampshire,  and  held 
the  office  until  July,  1861,  when  he  resigned.  In  September,  1861, 
he  received  authority  from  the  War  Department  to  raise  a  regiment 
of  infantry,  of  which  he  was  commissioned  Lieutenant-Colonel.  lii 
November,  1863,  he  was  promoted  to  be  Colonel,  and  in  January, 
1865,  was  bre vetted  Brigadier-General  for  "  gallant  services  in  the 
capture  of  Fort  Fisher."  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  settled  in 
North  Carolina,  and  entered  into  business.  In  September,  1867,  he 
was  elected  to  the  State  Constitutional  Convention,  and  to  the  State 
Legislature  in  the  following  April.  In  July,  1868,  he  was  elected  to 

the  United  States  Senate  for  the  term  ending  March  4,  1871. 

179 


FERRY. -FOWLER. 

LRRIS  S.  FERRY  was  born  in  Bethel,  Connecticut,  August 
15th,  1823.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1844,  studied 
law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1846.  In  1847  he  re- 
ceived the  commission  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  First  Division, 
Connecticut  Militia.  In  1849  he  was  appointed  Judge  of  Probate 
for  the  District  of  Norwalk.  He  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  in 
1855  and  in  1856,  and  was  subsequently  appointed  State's  Attorney  for 
the  county  of  Fairfield.  He  continued  to  hold  this  office  until  his 
election,  in  1859,  as  a  Eepresentative  to  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress. 
He  served  as  a  member  of  the  special  committee  of  thirty-three  on 
the  rebellious  States.  In  the  civil  war  he  served  the  country  with  dis- 
tinction, as  Colonel  and  Brigadier-General.  He  was  elected  to 
succeed  Hon.  Lafayette  S.  Foster  as  a  Senator  in  Congress,  and  March 
4th,  1867,  took  his  seat  for  the  term  ending  in  1873. 


'OSEPH  S.  FOWLER  was  born  near  Steubenville,  Ohio, 
August  31,  1822.  When  quite  young  he  was  left  depend- 
ent on  his  own  resources,  but  by  industry  and  persever- 
ence  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  collegiate  education,  graduating  at 
Franklin  College  in  1843.  In  that  institution  he  was  Professor  of 
Mathematics  for  four  years ;  and,  subsequently,  was  Principal  of  a 
seminary  near  Nashville,  Tennessee.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Rebellion  he  warmly  espoused  the  Union  cause.  In  September,  1861, 
he  left  the  State  under  the  forty  days'  proclamation  of  Jefferson 
Davis,  and  went  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  where  he  resided  until  April, 
1862.  Returning  to  Tennessee,  he  was  appointed  Comptroller  under 
Governor  Johnson,  and  took  a  prominent  part  in  re-organizing  the 
State  Government.  In  1865  he  was  elected  a  Senator  in  Congress 
from  Tennessee,  but  was  not  admitted  to  his  seat  until  July,  1866. 
He  was  elected  as  a  Republican,  but  sided  with  President  John- 
son near  the  close  of  his  administration,  and  acted  with  the  Demo- 
crats. 

180 


DIXON. 


it  Eiifield,  Connecticut,  August  5, 
ies  at  the  High 

^Ka  years  of  age  entered 

•tl  ir:  1834.     After  leaving  col- 
,;u  Dixou,  ' 

•f  hia 

. 
• 
=t  Windsor. 

\ving  summer. 

I*  to  the  ' 
:ut  Courant." 

•1  his 

;ii  to  a  higli  i.-iaoo  -\ 

•  lower  bra: 

Senate  in  184-9  and 
;  ative  in  Congr< 

itor  froui 

' 


CONKLING.—  TIPTON. 

CONKLING  was  born  in  Albany,  in  1828.  His 
father,  Hon.  Alfred  Conkling,  was  a  member  of  the  Seven- 
teenth Congress,  United  States  District  Judge  for  the  North- 
ern District  of  New  York,  and  Minister  to  Mexico.  The  present  Sena- 
tor was  educated  for  the  bar,  and  pursued  that  profession  with  suc- 
.cess.  In  1849  he  was  appointed  District-Attorney  for  Oneida  County, 
and  in  1858  was  Mayor  of  Utica.  He  was  elected  a  Representative 
from  New  York  to  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress  by  a  large  majority, 
and  was  re-elected  to  the  three  Congresses  succeeding,  by  inciva-c-d 
votes.  He  was  also  elected  a  Representative  to  the  Fortieth  Con- 
gress ;  but  in  January,  1867,.  he  was  chosen  a  Senator  of  the  United 
States,  for  the  term  ending  in  1873.  He  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1867,  and  was  appointed  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Ee vision  of  the  Laws  of  the  United  States.  He  is  a 
popular  orator,  an  effective  debater,  and  an  earnest  Republican. 


W.  TIPTON  was  born  at  Cadiz,  Ohio,  August  8, 
1817,  and  spent  his  early  life  on  a  farm.  He  graduated  at 
Madison  College,  Pennsylvania,  in  1840.  Having  studied 
law  and  divinity,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  the  ministry.  In 
1845  he  was  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Legislature,  and  subsequently  for 
three  years  was  at  the  head  of  a  division  of  the  General  Land  Office. 
He  then  removed  to  Nebraska,  where,  in  1860,  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Territorial  Council,  and  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Conven- 
tion to  frame  a  State  Constitution.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Rebellion  he  was  chosen  Chaplain  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Nebraska 
Infantry,  and  served  in  that  capacity  during  the  war.  On  the  ad- 
mission of  Nebraska  into  the  Union  he  was  elected  a  Senator  in 
Congress  from  the  new  State,  and  drew  the  short  term,  commencing 
in  1867  and  ending  in  1869.  He  was  subsequently  re-elected  for 
the  term  ending  in  1875. 

182 


VICKERS.  — WELCH.— WHYTE. 

'EORGE  TICKERS  was  born  in  Chester-town,  Maryland, 
November  19, 1801.  Having  received  an  academical  educa- 
tion, he  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1832. 
In  1836  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  Maryland  Senate.  He  declined 
appointments  as  judge,  tendered  him  by  the  Governors  of  Mary- 
land, but  accepted  that  of  Major-General  of  Militia,  in  1861. 
He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Baltimore  Convention  of  1852,  and  was  a 
presidential  elector  in  1864:.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate 
in  1866  and  1867,  and  on  the  rejection  of  P.  F,  Thomas,  he  was,  in 
1868,  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  for  the  term  ending  in 
1873. 


DONIJAH  S.  WELCH  was  born  in  the  State  of  Connecti- 
cut, in  1821.  He  graduated  at  the  University  of  Michigan, 
and  afterwards  became  one  of  its  professors.  He  was  for 
fifteen  years  at  the  head  of  the  Normal  School  of  Michigan.  On 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  he  entered  the  Union  Army,  and 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Having  settled  in  Florida,  he 
was  elected  by  its  Legislature  a  Senator  in  Congress,  and  on  the  re- 
construction of  that  State  he  was  admitted  to  his  seat,  which  he 
held  but  a  few  months,  his  term  closing  in  March,  1869. 


P.  WHYTE  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  August  9, 
1824.  He  was  educated  by  a  private  tutor,  and  was  for 
nine  months  in  the  counting-room  of  George  Peabody. 
He  graduated  at  the  Harvard  Law  School  in  1845,  and  afterwards 
practiced  law.  In  1851,  and  in  1857,  he  was  a  Democratic  can- 
didate for  Congress,  but  in  both  instances  was  defeated  by  small 
majorities.  In  1853  he  was  elected  Comptroller  of  the  State  of 
Maryland.  He  was  appointed  to  the  United  States  Senate  to  fill 
the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Reverdy  Johnson, 
serving  until  March  4,  1869. 

183 


NORTON. -WARNER-MCDONALD. 

[ANIEL  S.  NORTON  was  born  in  Mount  Yernon,  Ohio, 
April  12th,  1829.  He  was  educated  at  Kenyon  College, 
and  served  in  the  war  with  Mexico.  He  subsequently  went 
to  California,  and  thence  to  Nicaraugua,  where  he  spent  a  year.  Ee- 
turning  to  Ohio,  he  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1852.  He  emigrated  to  Minnesota  in  1855,  and  was  two  years  after 
elected  to  the  Senate  of  that  State,  to  which  he  was  three  times  re- 
elected.  In  1865  he  was  elected  a  United  States  Senator  for  the 
term  ending  in  1871. 


rILLAED  WAENER  was  born  in  Granville,  Ohio,  Sep- 
tember 4,  1826,  and  graduated  at  Marietta  College,  Ohio, 
in  1845.  He  entered  the  Union  army,  as  Major  of  the 
76th  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  in  1861.  During  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign he  served  on  General  Sherman's  staff  as  Assistant  Inspector- 
General.  In  October,  1864,  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the  180th 
Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  was  brevetted  Brigadier  and  Major-  Gen- 
eral for  meritorious  services.  He  was  subsequently  elected  to  the 
Ohio  Senate,  in  which  he  served  two  years.  Having  removed  to 
Alabama,  he  was  in  July,  1868,  elected  as  a  Senator  in  Congress 
from  that  State  for  the  remainder  of  a  term  ending  in  1871. 


LEXANDEE  McDONALD  was  born  in  Clinton  County, 
Pennsylvania,  April  10th,  1832.  In  1857  he  removed  to 
Kansas,  and  subsequently  to  Arkansas,  engaging  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits.  He  took  an  active  part  in  raising  and  equipping 
Union  troops  during  the  civil  war.  He  was  the  founder  and  first 
President  of  the  National  Bank  at  Fort  Smith,  and  afterward  of  the 
Merchant's  National  Bank  at  Little  Eock.  He  was  the  first  signer 
of  the  call  for  a  State  Convention  under  the  Eeconstruction  Acts, 
and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  convention.  He  was  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate,  as  a  Eepublican,  and  took  his  seat  on  the 
reconstruction  of  Arkansas,  for  the  term  ending  in  1871. 

184 


'•M  Jfr-;XFY  P  ANTHO-NT 


wa&  "bom  of  Quaker  ancesto: 

.  •'.     lie  graduated  at 

" 

i.:38,'he  asgurnf  . 

.  . 

Umd, 
rerm  end- 

• 

.  mittee  on  Prii ; 

' 

. 


MORRILL.— VAN  WINKLE.  — HARRIS. 

AUSTIN  S.  MOEKILL  was  born  in  Strafforil,  Yermont,  April 
14:,  1810.  Having  received  an  academic  education,  he 
engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  until  1848,  when  he  turned 
his  attention  to  agriculture.  He  was  elected  a  Representative  from 
Vermont  to  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress,  'and  was  five  times  re-elected. 
In  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means.  In  October,  1866,  he  was  elected  a  Senator  in 
Congress  for  Vermont,  for  the  term  ending  in  1873.  He  is  a  careful 
thinker  and  a  sound  reason er,  especially  upon  financial  and  economi- 
cal subjects,  to  which  ho  has  given  much  attention.  His  name  is 
connected  with  the  tariff,  which  is  a  source  of  immense  revenue  and 
protection  to  the  industry  of  the  country. 

>ETER  G.  VANWINKLE  was  born  in  New  York  City,  Sep- 
tember 7,  1808.  Having  received  an  academic  educa- 
tion, and  studied  law,  he  went  to  what  is  now  West 
Virginia  in  1835..  He  practiced  his  profession  until  1852,  when  he 
became  treasurer,  and  subsequently  president  of  a  railroad  com- 
pany. He  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia  State  Constitutional  Con- 
vention in  1850.  In  1861  he  was  a  member  of  the  Convention 
assembled  at  Wheeling  to  frame  a  Constitution  for  the  proposed  new 
State  of  West  Virginia.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of 
that  State  from  its  organization  to  June,  1863.  In  November  of 
that  year  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  for  the  term 
which  ended  March  4th,  1869. 


°OHN  S.  HAERIS  was  born  at  Truxton,  Cortland  County, 
New  York,  December  18,  1825.  Having  received  an 
academical  education,  in  1846  he  removed  to  Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  embarked  in  commercial  and  financial  pursuits. 
In  1863  he  removed  to  Concordia  Parish,  Louisiana,  and  engaged  in 
the  cultivation  of  cotton.  He  was  elected  to  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  that  State  in  1867,  and  to  the  State  Senate  in  April,  1868. 
He  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  in  July,  1868,  and  the 
same  month  took  his  seat  for  the  term  ending  in  1871. 

186 


OSB.ORN.  —  SPENCER.—  POOL. 


W.  OSBOEN  was  born  at  Scotch  Plains,  New 
Jersey,  March  9,  1836.  He  graduated  at  Madison  Univer- 
sity in  1860,  and  studied  law  at  Watertown,  New  York. 
In  1861  he  entered  the  Union  army  as  captain  in  the  1st  New 
York  Artillery.  He  afterwards  served  successfully  as  Chief  of  Ar- 
tillery of  the  Army  of  Tennessee.  He  was  Assistant-Commissioner 
of  the  Bureau  of  Eefugees  and  Freedmen  for  Florida  from  January, 
1865,  to  August,  1866.  He  practiced  law  in  Tallahasse,  and  held 
the  office  of  Register  in  Bankruptcy.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  of  Florida  under  the  Eeconstruction  Act,  and 
was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  for  the  term  ending  in  1873. 


'EOEGE  E.  SPENCEE  was  born  in  Jefferson  County,  New 
York,  November  1, 1836.  He  removed  to  Iowa,  and  served 
as  Secretary  of  the  Senate  of  that  State  in  1856,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  He  entered  the  army  in  1862  as  Captain  and 
Assistant  Adjutant-General  of  Volunteers.  He  commanded  a  brigade 
of  cavalry  in  Sherman's  grand  march,  and  was  brevetted  Brigadier- 
General  for  gallantry  in  the  field.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  settled 
in  Alabama,  and  in  May,  1867,  was  appointed  Eegister  in  Bank- 
ruptcy for  the  Fourth  District  of  that  State.  In  July,  1868,  he  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  for  the  term  ending  in  1873. 


5OHN  POOL  was  born  in  Pasquodunk  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, June  16,  1826.  He  graduated  at  the  University  of 
North  Carolina  in  1847,  and  adopted  the  profession  of  law. 
He  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  in  1856,  and  was  re-elected  in  1858. 
He  was  the  "Whig  candidate  for  Governor  in  1860.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention  in  1865.  In  the  same 
year  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  from  North  Carolina, 
but  was  not  admitted  to  a  seat.  In  1868  he  was  again  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate,  and  in  July  of  that  year  he  was  admitted 
to  his  seat  for  the  term  ending  in  1873. 

187 


BAYARD.  — KELLOGG.  — ROBERTSON, 

'AMES  A.  BAYARD  is  a  native  of  Delaware,  and  son  of  a 
distinguished  Senator  of 'the  United  States,  who  was  Ameri- 
can Minister  to  France,  and  aided  in  negotiating  the  cele- 
brated treaty  of  Ghent.  The  younger  Bayard  graduated  at  Prince- 
ton College,  and  adopted  the  profession  of  law.  He  was  elected  to 
the  United  States  Senate  in  1851,  was  re-elected  in  1857,  and  was 
again  re-elected  in  1863,  but  resigned,  January  29,  1864.  He  was 
appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of  George 
Eead  Riddle,  and  took  his  seat  April  1, 1867.  His  term  of  service 
expired  March  4,  1869,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son. 


ILLIAM  PITT  KELLOGG  was  bora  in  Yermont,  De- 
cember 8, 1830,  and  was  educated  at  Norwich  University- 
He  removed  to  Illinois  in  1848,  studied  law  in  Peoria, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1853.  In  1860  he  was  appointed 
Chief-Justice  of  Nebraska,  by  President  Lincoln,  but  resigned  the 
same  year,  and  was  commissioned  as  Colonel  of  the  Seventh  Illinois 
Cavalry.  He  served  under  General  Pope  in  Missouri,  and  com- 
manded a  cavalry  brigade,  until  the  evacuation  of  Corinth.  In 
April,  1865,  he  was  appointed  Collector  of  the  port  of  New  Orleans, 
his  commission  being  signed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  day  of  his  assas- 
sination. In  July,  1868,  he  was  elected  by  the  Legislature  of  Lou- 
isiana a  Senator  in  Congress,  for  the  term  ending  in  187B. 


J.  ROBERTSON  was  born  in  Fairfield  County, 
South  Carolina,  August  3d,  1823.  He  graduated  at  South 
Carolina  College  in  1843,  and  subsequently  turned  his 
attention  to  agricultural  pursuits  and  railroad  interests.  During 
the  Rebellion  he  was  an  avowed  Union  man.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  South  Carolina  Constitutional  Convention,  under  the  reconstruc- 
tion acts,  and  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  under  the 
new  Constitutional  Convention  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  and  took  his  seat  July  22,  1868,  for  the  term  ending 
in  1871. 


I 


GE  O    H    WILLIAM  S  , 

SKNATOK    FROM    OREGON 


>RGE    H.    WILLIAMS. 


pEORGE  H.  WI1  .-n  in  Columbia  County, 

x-eivcd  an  aca... 

.     ..'•   »>-i -r§  .  .!..  UlU'Jk"!  >:t\r.   IL;  v/:: 
•r  iti  18*1,  asnd  immediately  eaadSgrated  to  Iowa.     In 
o  .First  Judicial  I»i>ti-ict  of  lowji,  and 
reeideniSal  elector.     [] 
Picj-co  th-.- 

• 

.(3  a  meml  h  formed  a 

- 

i 

. 
;.or  from  Oivgou  for 

the  first  day  of  the 
,  he  Senate  a  bill 

• 

- 

-lion. 
• 
i-jt  '!;»•;-.  *  rt-flkt  srtk  VHD 


GRIMES.  — ROSS.  — SAUL  SBURY. 

'AMES  W.  GRIMES  was  born  in  Deering,  Hillsboro  County, 
New  Hampshire,  October  16, 1816.  He  graduated  at  Dart- 
mouth College  in  1836,  and  soon  after  removed  to  Iowa, 
where  he  was,  in  1838,  elected  to  the  first  Territorial  Legislature. 
From  1854  to  1858  he  was  Governor  of -the  State  of  Iowa.  In 
1859  he  was  elected  a  Senator  in  Congress,  and  in  1865  was  elected 
for  a  second  term,  which  will  end  in  1871.  He  received  the  degree 
of  LL.D.  from  Iowa  College  in  1865.  During  the  greater  part  of 
his  term  in  the  Senate  he  has  served  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  Naval  Affairs,  and  in  this  position  rendered  important  service  to 
the  country  during  the  war.  His  vote  to  acquit  the  President  in  the 
Impeachment  Trial  elicited  much  criticism  from  his  political  friends. 


DMUND  G.  ROSS  was  born  in  Ashland,  Ohio,  December 
7th,  1826.  He  went  to  Wisconsin,  and  worked  as  a  printer 
in  the  office  of  the  "  Milwaukee  Sentinel."  Emigrating  to 
Kansas  at  the  beginning  of  the  troubles  there,  he  became  editor  of 
the  "  Kansas  Tribune."  He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  1859,  which  framed  the  present  Constitution  of  the  State. 
At  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  he  entered  the  Union  army  as 
a  private,  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major.  He  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  United  States  Senate,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned 
by  the  suicide  of  James  H.  Lane,  and  took  his  seat  July  25th,  1866. 
He  was  regularly  elected  by  the  Legislature,  in  the  following  Jan- 
uary, for  the  term  ending  in  1871. 


rILLARD  S  AULSBURY  was  born  in  Kent  County,  Dela- 
ware, June  2,  1820.  He  was  educated  at  Delaware  Col- 
lege and  at  Dickinson  College,  Pennsylvania.  He  studied 
law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1845.  In  1850  he  was  elected 
Attorney-General  of  Delaware  .and  held  the  office  five  years.  In 
1859  he  was  elected  a  United  States  Senator,  and  was  subsequently 
re-elected  for  a  second  term,  which  will  end  in  1871. 

190 


RICE.  — RAMSEY.  — McCREERY. 

iENJAMLN"  F.  BICE  was  born  at  East  Otto,  Cataraugus 
County,  New  York,  May  28th,  1828.  Having  adopted  the 
profession  of  law,  he  removed  to  Kentucky.  He  served  in 
the  Legislature  of  that  State  in  1855-56,  and  was  elected  a  presi- 
dential elector  for  the  Sixth  Congressional  District  in  1856.  He 
removed  to  Minnesota  in  1860.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Bebel- 
lion  he  entered  the  Union  army  as  a  private,  and  was  promoted  to 
Captain  in  the  Third  Minnesota  Infantry  Volunteers,  and  served 
three  years.  In  1864  he  settled  in  Little  Bock,  Arkansas,  and  prac- 
ticed law.  He  took  an  active  part  in  organizing  the  Bepublican 
party  in  Arkansas,  and  served  as  Chairman  of  the  State  Central 
Committee.  In  Apnl,  1868,  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  for  a  term  ending  in  1873. 


LEXANDEB  BAMSEY  was  born  near  Harrisburg,  Penn- 
sylvania, September  8th,  1815.  In  1841  he  was  elected 
Clerk  of  the  House  of  Bepresentatives  of  Pennsylvania. 
From  1843  to  1847  he  was  a  Bepresentative  in  Congress  from  Penn- 
sylvania. In  1849  he  was  appointed  by  President  Taylor  the  first 
Territorial  Governor  of  Minnesota,  and  held  that  office  until  1853. 
During  his  term  of  office  he  negotiated  a  number  of  important  In- 
dian treaties.  In  1858  he  was  elected  Governor  of  the  State  of 
Minnesota,  continuing  in  that  office  until  1862.  In  1863  he  was 
elected  a  .United  States  Senator,  and  was  re-elected  for  a  second 
term  ending  in  1875. 


,HOMAS  C.  McCBEEBY  was  born  in  Kentucky,  in  1817. 
He  studied  law,  but,  instead  of  practicing  the  profession, 
turned  his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits.  He  was  a  presi- 
dential elector  in  1852.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Visi- 
tors to  the  West  Point  Military  Academy  in  1858.  On  the  resigna- 
tion of  James  Guthrie  as  Senator  in  Congress  for  Kentucky,  in  1868, 
he  was  elected  for  the  unexpired  term  ending  in  1871. 

191 


FREDERICK    A.    SAWYER. 

FREDERICK  A.  SAWYER,  was  born  in  Bolton,  Worcester 
County,  Massachusetts,  December  12, 1822.  He  graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  1844,  and  subsequently  occupied 
several  years  in  teaching.  In  April,  1859,  he  accepted  an  invitation 
•to  become  Principal  of  a  State  Normal  School,  for  girls,  in  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina.  This  position  he  held  until  September,  1864, 
when  his  persistent  loyalty  rendered  him  so  obnoxious  to  the  Rebels 
that  they  gave  him  a  passport  for  himself  and  family  through  the 
lines  to  the  post  of  Port  Royal,  then  in  the  possession  of  the  Federal 
forces.  In  May,  1865,  he  was  appointed  Collector  of  Internal 
Revenue  for  the  Second  District  of  South  Carolina,  the  first  civil  ap- 
pointment made  in  the  State  after  the  rebellion.  He  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention,  but  was  not  able  to 
participate  in  the  proceedings  of  that  body.  He  was  elected  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  July  16, 1868,  and  took  his  seat  immedi- 
ately for  the  term  ending  in  1873. 


*1 


CT    BLKCT 


appear- 


.iX,     BO' 

;d  in  New  York,  whore  he  held  an  office  in 
He  died  soon  after  hi,  ,  and 


:•    ami  -,    Mr.    M  ; 

*  found  no  more  atii. 


2  SCHUYLER      COLFAX. 

has  been  his  residence.  He  frequently  wrote  for  the  local 
newspaper  of  the  town,  and  attracted  attention  hy  the  per- 
spicuity and  correctness  with  which  he  expressed  his  views. 
During  several  sessions  of  the  Legislature  he  was  employed 
in  reporting  its  proceedings  for  the  Indianapolis  Journal. 

In  1845  Mr.  Colfax  became  proprietor  and  editor  of  the 
"St.  Joseph  Valley  Register,"  the  local  newspaper  of  South 
Bend.  At  the  outset  he  had  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  sub- 
scribers, and  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  he  found  himself 
fourteen  hundred  dollars  in  debt.  Being  possessed  of  tact, 
energy,  and  ability,  he  pushed  bravely  forward  in  his  labo- 
rious profession,  and  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his 
paper  a  success.  A  few  years  later  his  newspaper  office 
was  burned,  without  insurance,  and  the  editor  had  to  begin 
his  fortune  again  at  the  foundation.  Mr.  Colfax  applied 
himself  with  renewed  industry  to  his  work,  and  in  a  few 
years  made  the  St.  Joseph  Valley  Eegister  the  most  influ- 
ential paper  in  that  portion  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Colfax  was,  in  1848,  a  delegate  and  secretary  to 
the  Whig  National  Convention  which  nominated  General  Tay- 
lor. Although  his  district  was  opposed  to  his  political  party, 
his  personal  popularity  was  so  great  that  in  1849  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Convention  to  revise  the  Consti- 
tution of  Indiana.  He  was  soon  after  offered  a  nomination 
to  the  State  Senate,  which  he  declined  on  account  of  the 
demands  of  his  private  business. 

Mr.  Colfax  received  his  first  nomination  as  a  candidate 
for  Congress  in  1851,  and  was  beaten  by  a  majority  of  only 
two  hundred  votes  in  'a  district  strongly  opposed  to  him  in 
politics.  In  1852  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Whig  National 
Convention  which  nominated  General  Scott.  He  declined 
to  be  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  subsequent  election, 
which  went  against  his  party  by  a  majority  of  one  thousand 

votes. 

194 


SCHUYLER      COLFAX.  3 

The  succeeding  Congress  signalized  itself  by  passing  the 
Nebraska  bill,  which  wrought  a  great  change  in  public  opinion 
throughout  the  North.  The  Representative  from  Mr.  Colfax's 
district  voted  for  this  odious  act.  He  'came  home  and  took  the 
stump  as  a  candidate  for  re-election.  Mr.  Colfax  was  put  for- 
ward as  his  opponent,  and  the  two  candidates  traversed  their 
district  together,  debating  before  the  same  audiences  the  great 
question  which  agitated  the  public  mind.  The  unfortunate 
member  strove  in  vain  to  justify  his  vote,  and  render  the 
Nebraska  act  acceptable  to  the  people.  He  who  had  gained 
the  previous  election  by  one  thousand  votes  now  lost  it  by 
a  majority  of  two  thousand. 

The  Thirty-Fourth  Congress,  to  which  Mr.  Colfax  was  then 
elected,  convened  December  3,  1855.  At  that  time  occurred 
the  memorable  contest  for  the  Speakership  which  lasted  two 
months,  and  resulted  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Banks.  At  one 
stage  in  the  contest,  an  adroit  attempt  to  foist  Mr.  Orr,  of 
South  Carolina,  upon  the  House  as  Speaker,  was  defeated  by 
an -opportune  proposition  made  by  Mr.  Colfax,  by  which  the 
question  was  deferred  and  the  result  avoided. 

On  the  21st  of  June,  1856,  Mr.  Colfax  delivered  a  memorable 
speech  on  the  "Laws"  of  Kansas,  which  fell  with  decided  effect 
upon  Congress  and  the  country,  as  a  plain  and  truthful  showing 
of  the  great  legislative  enormity  of  the  day.  During  the  Presi- 
dential campaign  of  that  year,  half  a  million  copies  of  this 
speech  were  distributed  among  the  voters  of  the  United  States. 

While  in  Washington,  Mr.  Colfax  was  nominated  for  re- 
election, and,  after  a  laborious  canvass,  carried  his  district, 
although  the  Presidential  election  went  against  his  party.  To 
each  succeeding  Congress  Mr.  Colfax  has  been  regularly  nomi- 
nated and  re-elected. 

In  the  Thirty-Sixth  Congress,  Mr.  Colfax  was  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Post-Offices  and  Post-Roads — a  position  in 

which  he  did  good  service  for  the  country,  by  securing  the 

195 


4  SCHUYLER    COLFAX.. 

extension  of  mail  facilities  to  the  newly-settled  regions  of  the  far 
West. 

The  nomination  of  Abraharh.  Lincoln,  in  1860,  was  eminently  sat- 
isfactory to  Mr.  Colfax,  who  entered  with  great  spirit  into  the  canvass, 
and  did  much  to  aid  in  carrying  Indiana  for  the  Republican  party. 
During  Mr.  Lincoln's  entire  term,  down  to  the  day  of  his  assassina- 
tion, he  regarded  Mr.  Colfax  as  one  of  his  wisest  and  most  faithful 
friends,  whom  he  often  consulted  on  grave  matters  of  public  policy. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  December,  1863, 
Mr.  Colfax  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
He  has  since  been  twice  re-elected  to  this  important  office,  on  each 
occasion  by  a  larger  majority  than  before.  He  has  displayed  signal 
ability  in  performing  the  duties  of  an  office  of  great  difficulty  and 
responsibility.  His  remarkable  tact,  unvarying  good  temper,  ex- 
haustless  patience,  cool  presence  of  mind,  and  familiarity  with  parlia- 
mentary law,  all  combine  to  render  him,  as  a  Speaker  of  the  House, 
second  to  none  who  have  ever  occupied  its  Chair. 

In  /Lpril,  1865,  Mr.  Colfax  went  with  a  party  of  friends  on  a  jour- 
ney across  the  continent,  to  San  Francisco.  The  evening  before  •  his 
departure  he  called  at  the  White  House  to  take  leave  of  President 
Lincoln.  An  hour  after  he  grasped  his  hand  with  a  cheerful  and  cor- 
dial good-bye,  he  was  startled  with  the  intelligence  that  the  beloved 
President  was  assassinated.  Before  leaving  for  the  Pacific,  Mr. 
Colfax  delivered  a  eulogy  on  the  murdered  President  at  Chicago,  and 
afterward,  by  invitation,  repeated  it  in  Colorado,  at  Salt  Lake  City, 
and  in  California. 

On  his  way  westward,  Mr.  Colfax  spent  a  few  days  among  the 
Mormons  at  Salt  Lake  City,  studying  their  organization  with  the  eye 
of  a  statesman.  "  I  have  had  a  theory  for  years  past,"  he  said,  in 
explaining  the  motives  of  his  journey,  "  that  it  is  the  duty  of  men 
in  public  life,  charged  with  a  participation  in  the  government  of  a 
great  country  like  ours,  to  know  as  much  as  possible  of  the  interests, 
developments,  and  resources  of  the  country  whose  destiny,  compara- 
tively, has  been  committed  to  their  hands."  Brigham  Young,  in- 

196 


SCHUYLER    COLFAX.  5 

quiring  of  him  what  the  Government  intended  to  do  about  the  ques- 
tion of  polygamy,  Mr.  Colfax  shrewdly  replied  that  he  hoped  the 
prophet  would  have  a  new  revelation  on  that  subject,  which  would 
relieve  all  embarrassment. 

The  reception  of  Mr.  Colfax  along  his  route  and  on  the  Pacific 
coast  was  an  ovation  which  revealed  his  great  popularity.  On  his 
return,  Mr.  Colfax,  by  urgent  solicitation,  delivered  in  various  cities 
and  before  vast  audiences,  an  eloquent  and  instructive  lecture  de- 
scribing adventures,  scenes,  and  reflections,  incident  to  his  journey 
"  Across  the  Continent."  The  proceeds  of  the  delivery  of  this  lec- 
ture were  generally  given  to  the  widows  and  children  of  soldiers  who 
had  fallen  in  the  war,  and  to  other  objects  of  benevolence. 

On  the  20th  of  May,  1868,'the  National  Eepublican  Convention 
assembled  in  Chicago.  After  unanimously  nominating  General  U. 
S.  Grant  for  President,  the  Convention  nominated  Hon.  Schuyler 
Colfax  for  Yice-President,  receiving  on  the  first  formal  ballot  a  ma- 
jority over  all  the  distinguished  gentlemen  who  had  been  named  as 
candidates.  This  nomination  was  made  unanimous  amid  unbounded 
enthusiasm. 

On  the  day  following  his  nomination,  Mr.  Colfax  received  the  con- 
gratulations of  his  friends  in  Washington,  and  in  the  course  of  a 
brief  speech  on  that  occasion,  uttered  the  following  noble  sentiments  : 
"  Defying  all  prejudices,  we  are  for  uplifting  the  lowly,  and  protect- 
ing the  oppressed.  History  records,  to  the  immortal  honor  of  .our  or- 
ganization, that  it  saved  the  nation  and  emancipated  the  race.  We 
struck  the  fetter  from  the  limb  of  the  slave,  and  lifted  millions 
into  the  glorious  sunlight  of  liberty.  "We  placed  the  emancipated 
slave  on  his  feet  as  a  man,  and  put  into  his  right  hand  the  ballot  to 
protect  his  manhood  and  his 'rights.  We  staked  our  political  exist- 
ence on  the  reconstruction  of  the  revolted  States,  on  the  sure  and 
eternal  corner-stone  of  loyalty,  and  we  shall  triumph." 

No  public  party  ever  made  more  popular  nominations.  Both  can- 
didates added  special  and  peculiar  elements  of  strength  to  the  Ee- 
publican ticket. 

197 


6  SCHUYLER    COLFAX. 

After  one  of  the  most  important  and  exciting  political  campaigns 
in  the  history  of  the  country,  Mr.  Colfax  was,  on  the  3d  of  No- 
vember, elected  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  receiving,  with 
the  illustrious  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  a  large  majority  of  both 
the  electoral  and  popular  votes. 

Mr.  Colfax  was  first  married  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  to  an  early 
playmate  of  his  childhood.  After  being  for  a  long  time  an  invalid, 
she  died  several  years  ago,  leaving  him  childless.  His  mother  and 
sister  have  since  presided  at  his  receptions,  which,  if  not  the  most 
brilliant,  have  been  the  most  popular  of  any  given  at  the  Capital. 
On  the  18th  of  November,  a  fortnight  after  his  election  to  the  Yice- 
Presidency,  Mr.  Coll'ax  was  married  to  Miss  Ella  M.  "Wade,  of  An- 
dover,  Ohio.  She  is  a  niece  of  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  and  is  a 
lady  whose  virtues  and  accomplishments  fit  her  to  cheer  the  private 
life,  and  grace  the  public  career  of  her  distinguished  husband. 

.Mr.  Colfax  is  of  medium  stature  and  compact  frame,  with  a  fair 
Complexion,  a  mild,  blue  eye,  and  a  large  mouth,  upon  which  a  smile 
habitually  plays.  He  has  a  melodious  voice,  a  rapid  utterance,  and 
smooth  and  graceful  elocution.  Consistent  in  politics,  agreeable  in 
manners,  and  pure  in  morals,  he  has  all  the  elements  of  lasting  pop- 
ularity. 

198 


HON.  JOHN  A. BIN G HAM. 

REPRK3ENTAT1VE    FPOM    OHIO 


N    A.    BIN  GUAM. 


;UHN  A.  Bi  ;  ,    -o  of  Ponnsylvaain,  and  was 

born  in  lSli=.     A#*'.?  .-TIMVIIIJ:  at  an  academy,  he  tfpent  two 

Kit-t-fi   fVunklii 
iui  frmu  advancing  to 
^38,  und  at  ti 
to  1854,  li. 
• 

-il'-:  (JllOiit 


iently 

.aims, 

•  a  member 

ition  conspiratof*.     '  i^bor   devolve! 

•nh  and  protracted  trial.     For  six  week 

allowed  him  but  brief  intervals  for  rest. 

' 
HHMte 


2  JOHN    A.   BINGHAM. 

founded  conclusion  as  to  "  the  guilt  of  the  prisoners  and  the  constitu- 
tionality of  the  court,"  proceeded  : 

"  Grant  me  space  in  your  columns  to  give  expression  to  my  most 
unqualified  admiration  of  the  great  arguments,  on  these  two  main 
points,  presented  to  the  Court  by  the  Special  Judge- Advocate-Gen- 
eral, John  A.  Bingham.  In  the  entire  range  of  my  reading,  I  have 
known  of  no  productions  that  have  so  literally  led  me  captive. 

"  For  careful  analysis,  logical  argumentation,  profound  and  most 
extensive  research  ;  for  overwhelming  unravelment  of  complications 
that  would  have  involved  an  ordinary  mind  only  with  inextricable 
bewilderment,  and  for  a  literal  rending  to  tatters  of  all  the  meta- 
physical subtleties  of  the  array  of  legal  talent  engaged  on  the  other 
side,  I  know  of  no  two  productions  in  the  English  language  superior 
to  these.  They  are  literally,  as  the  spear  of  Ithuriel,  dissolving 
the  hardest  substances  at  their  touch ;  as  the  thread  of  Doedalus, 
leading  out  of  labyrinths  of  error,  no  matter  how  thick  and  mazy. 
Not  Locke  or  Bacon  were  more  profound;  not  Daniel  Webster 
was  clearer  and  more  penetrating;  not  Chillingworth  was  more 
logical. 

"  I  feel  sure  that  the  author  of  these  two  unrivaled  papers  must 
possess  a  legal  mind  unrivaled  in  America,  and  must  be,  too,  one. of 
our  rising  statesmen.  But  who  is  John  A.  Bingham,  who,  by  his 
industry  and  learning  displayed  on  this  wonderful  trial,  has  placed 
the  country  under  such  a  heavy  debt  of  obligation  ?  He  may  be 
well  known  to  others  moving  in  a  public  sphere,  like  yourself,  but  to 
me,  so  absorbed  in  a  different  line  of  duty,  he  has  appeared  so  sud- 
denly, and  yet  with  such  vividness,  that  I  long  to  know  some,  at 
least,  of  his  antecedents." 

Upon  which  the  Editor  remarked :  "  The  question  of  our  esteemed 
correspondent  is  natural  to  one  who  has  not,  probably,  watched. the 
individual  actors  on  the  great  stage  of  public  affairs  with  the  interest 
of  the  historical  and  political  student.  "We  are  not  surprised  that 
the  arguments  of  Mr.  Bingham  before  the  Military  Commission 
should  have  filled  him  with  delight.  It  was  worthy  of  the  great 

200 


JOHN    A.   BINGHAM.  3 

subject  confided  to  that  accomplished  statesman  by  the  Government, 
and  of  his  own  fame. 

"  When  the  assassins  of  Mr.  Lincoln  were  sent  for  trial  before  the 
Military  Court  by  President  Johnson,  the  Government  wisely  left 
the  whole  management  to  Judge  Holt  and  his  eloquent  associate,  Mr. 
Bingham ;  and  to  the  latter  was  committed  the  stupendous  labor  of 
sifting  the  mass  of  evidence,  of  replying  to  the  corps  of  lawyers  for 
the  defense,  of  setting  forth  the  guilt  of  the  accused,  and  of  vindica- 
ting the  policy  and  the  duty  of  the  Executive  in  an  exigency  so  novel 
and  so  full  of  tragic  solemnity.  The  crime  was  so  enormous,  and  the 
trial  of  those  who  committed  it  so  important  in  all  its  issues,  imme- 
diate, contingent,  and  remote,  as  to  awaken  an  excitement  that 
embraced  all  nations.  The  murder  itself  was  almost  forgotten  by 
those  who  wished  to  screen  the  murderers,  and  the  most  wicked 
theories  were  broached  and  sown  broadcast  by  men  who,  under  cloak 
of  reverence  for  what  they  called  the  law,  toiled  with  herculean  energy, 
to  weaken  the  arm  of  the  Government,  extended,  in  time  of  war,  to 
save  the  servants  of  the  people  from  being  slaughtered  by  assassins 
in  public  places,  and  tracked  even  to  their  own  firesides  by  the  agents 
and  fiends  of  Slavery.  These  poisons  of  plausibility,  blunting  the 
sharpest  horrors  of  any  age,  and  sanctifying  the  most  hellish  offenses, 
required  an  antidote  as  swift  to  cure.  Mr.  Bingham's  two  great 
arguments,  alluded  to  by  our  correspondent,  have  supplied  the 
remedy.  They  are  monuments  of  reflection,  research,  and  argu- 
mentation ;  and  they  are  presented  in  the  language  of  a  scholar,  and 
with  the  fervor  of  an  orator.  In  the  great  volume  of  proof  and 
counter-proof,  rhetoric  and  controversy,  that  for  ever  preserves  the 
record  of  this  great  trial,  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Bingham  will  ever  re- 
main to  be  first  studied  with  an  eager  and  admiring  interest.  That 
they  came  after  all  that  has  and  can  be  said  against  the  Govern- 
ment, is  rather  an  inducement  to  their  more  satisfactory  and  critical 
consideration.  For  from  that  study  the  American  student  and  citi- 
zen must,  more  than  ever,  realize  how  irresistible  is  Truth  when  in 
conflict  with  Falsehood,  and  how  poor  and  puerile  are  all  the  pro* 

201 


4  JOHN    A.   BINGHAM. 

fessional  tricks  of  the  lawyer  when  opposed  to  the  moral  power  of 
the  patriot." 

In  Congress,  Mr.  Bingham  has  had  a  distinguished  career,  marked 
by  important  services  to  the  country.  In  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress 
he  was  earnest  and  successful  in  advocating  many  important  measures 
to  promote  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  which  had  just  begun. 
Eeturning  to  Congress  in  1865,  after  an  absence  of  two  years,  he  at 
once  took  a  prominent  position.  Upon  the  formation  of  the  Joint 
Committee  on  Reconstruction,  December  14,  1865,  he  was  appointed 
one  of  the  nine  members  on  the  part  of  the  House.  He  was  active  in 
advocating  the  great  measures  of  Reconstruction  which  were  proposed 
and  passed  in  the  Thirty-ninth  and  Fortieth  Congresses.  I'he  House 
of  Representatives  having  resolved  that  Andrew  Johnson  should  be 
impeached  for  "  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,"  Mr.  Binghain  was 
appointed  on  the  Committee  to  which  was  intrusted  the  important 
duty  of  drawing  up  the  Articles  of  Impeachment.  This  work  having 
been  done  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  House,  Mr.  Bingham  was  elected 
Chairman  of  the  Managers  to  conduct  the  Impeachment  of  the  Presi- 
dent before  the  Senate.  On  him  devolved  the  duty  of  making  the 
closing  argument.  His  speech  on  this  occasion  ranks  among  the 
greatest  forensic  efforts  of  any  age.  He  began  the  delivery  of  his 
argument  on  Monday,  May  4th,  and  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  and  a  vast  auditory  on  the  floor  and  in  the  galleries  during 
three  successive  days.  At  the  close  of  his  argument,  the  immense 
audience  in  the  galleries,  wrought  up  to  the  highest  pitch  of 
enthusiasm,  gave  vent  to  such  an  unanimous  and  continued  outburst  of 
applause  as  had  never  before  been  heard  in  the  Capitol.  Ladies  and 
gentlemen,  who  could  not  have  been  induced  deliberately  to  trespass 
on  the  decorum  of  the  Senate,  by  whose  courtesy  they  were  admitted 
to  the  galleries,  overcome  by  their  feelings,  joined  in  the  utterance 
of  applause,  knowing  that  for  so  doing  the  Sergeant- at- Arms  would 
be  required  to-  expel  them  from  the  galleries.  The  history  of  the 
country  records  no  similar  tribute  to  the  oratorial  efforts  of  the  ablest 
advocates  or  statesmen. 


FION.  F.l.IHU  H  WAS:iniJHNi 


I<KP!<KS!-:N  TATlVE  KKOM  ILLINOIS. 


B.    WASHBUB 


B.  WASTJ  ,<-a8  born  in  Livermorc,  M 

C^     September  23,   li  ,;>  as  a 

*fft     prim'  "  The    Kennebee   Journal. 

ity.     Removing  to  Illinois  be  settled 
;  as  a 
"Whi^  to  the  Thirty-third  < 

res?  he  became  the  "  Father  of  the  II 
a  lunger  continuous  • 

i  party  from  its  org. 

•>ill  to 

suffrage  witli  out 
of  the  Committee  on  Con  >  •< 
irh  t- •  the  thirty-ninth.     At  the 
.imitteeon 
•  nomy 
i 

. 

. 

»•  him.     The  latter  was  then  the 

,   .  :    • 
• 

*:iiato  muster  volnnt//. 

,  and  llavs 

Mr.  AVashi 


2  ELIHU    B.    WASHBURXE. 

pretty  set  of  fellows  your  soldiers  are,  to  elect  Chetlain  for  captain  !  " 
"  Why  not  ? "  "  They  were  foolish  to  take  him  when  they  could  get 
such  a  man  as  Grant."  "  What  is  Grant's  history  ? "  "  He  was  edu- 
cated at  West  Point,  served  in  the  army  eleven  years,  and  came  out 
with  the  very  best  reputation."  Washburne  immediately  called  upon 
Grant  and  invited  him  to  go  to  Springfield.  He  did  so,  and  was 
employed  to  assist  in  Governor  Yates's  office,  and  in  mustering  in 
regiments.  Governor  Yates  at  length  appointed  Grant  colonel  of  a 
regiment,  but  he  was  indebted  for  his  next  promotion  to  Washburne. 
President  Lincoln  sent  a  circular  to  each  of  the  Illinois  Senators  and 
Representatives,  asking  them  to  nominate  four  brigadiers.  Wash- 
burne pressed  the  claims  of  Grant,  on  the  ground  that  his  section  of 
the  State  had  raised  a  good  many  men,  and  was  entitled  to  a  briga- 
dier. Grant,  Hurlburt,  Prentiss,  and  McClernand  were  appointed. 
When  Grant  heard  of  his  promotion  he  said,  "  It  never  came  from 
any  request  of  mine.  It  must  be  some  of  Washburne's  work."  In 
October,  1861,  while  Grant  was  in  command  at  Cairo,  Washburne 
made  him  a  visit,  and  then  for  the  first  time  became  impressed  that 
he  was  "  the  coming  man  "  of  the  war. 

After  the  battle  of  Fort  Donelson,  Grant  no  longer  needed  Wash- 
burne's kind  offices  to  secure  his  promotion.  Nevertheless,  Wash- 
burne found  frequent  opportunities  to  give  his  influence  and  argu- 
ments in  refutation  of  unjust  criticisms  of  Grant's  soldierly  qualities. 
He  framed  the  bill  to  revive  the  grade  of  Lieutenant-General  which 
had  been  previously  conferred  only  on  Washington,  and  was  an  efficient 
leader  in  every  movement  to  further  Grant's  progress  toward  the  chief 
command  of  the  armies. 

Upon  General  Grant's  accession  to  the  Presidency  he  appointed 
Mr.  Washburne  Secretary  of  State.  He  held  this  office  but  a  few 
days,  however,  when  he  was  appointed  United  States  Minister  to 
France. 

Mr.  Washburne  is  a  man  of  marked  peculiarities — vigorous  in  body, 
bluff  in  manner,  vehement  in  oratory,  making  no  display  of  learning 
nor  show  of  profundity  in  argument,  carrying  his  point  rather  by 
strong  blows  than  by  rhetorical  art. 

204 


RON  3ILNRY  CLARKE. 

vEPP K3Ky.T/iT!VE   T'HOM  KANSAS 


SIDNEY    CLAEKE. 


EY    OLAEKF  -    at    Scnthbridge,*  Worcester 

County,   Ma~  •       <ber   16,  1881.     Hi> 

w<  England,  and  were 

••volution. 
les  at   tli« 
present  at  tltc  surrender  of  the  Err 

• 

groat 

nsotlier  oi 
• 

At 

7  s°- 

whose  member  .  were  de- 

'_y  their  circumstances  the  ad  van  a3  education,  l)ut 

'I'  the  opportunities 

- 

te  he 
Soil 


2  SIDNEY    CLARKE. 

party.  His  first  vote  was  cast  for  Hale  and  Julian,  in  the  election  of 
1852.  In  1856  he  was  a  warm  supporter  of  Gen.  Fremont,  and  ren- 
dered efficient  service  both  as  editor  and  speaker  throughout  that 
memorable  campaign.  In  the  spring  of  1858,  in  accordance  with  the 
advice  of  his  physicians,  he  sought  the  more  genial  climate  of  Kansas, 
visiting  the  settled  portions  of  the  territory,  and  becoming  ardently 
interested  in  the  future  of  that  historic  community.  The  following 
year  he  fulfilled  his  purpose  of  making  Kansas  his  home,  and  settled 
at  Lawrence,  in  Douglas  County.  During  the  first  two  years  of  his 
residence  in  Kansas,  Mr.  Clarke  became  actively  engaged  in  political 
affairs,  and  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the  "  Radical  wing  "  of  the 
Free  State  party. 

In  1862,  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature,  where  he  at  once 
took  front  rank  among  the  many  able  men  who  composed  that  body. 
In  1863,  he  was  appointed  Assistant  Adjutant-General  of  Volun- 
teers, by  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  was  at  once  assigned  to  duty  in  the  Bureau 
of  the  Provost-Marshal  General  as  Acting  Assistant  Provost-Marshal 
General  for  the  District  of  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Colorado,  and  Dakota, 
with  headquarters  at  Leavenworth,  Kansas.  In  this  line  of  duty  he 
at  once  obtained  recognition  as  an  efficient  and  popular  administra- 
tive officer.  In  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  provisions  of  the 
Enrollment  Act,  and  the  superintending  of  the  volunteer  recruiting 
service,  his  office  in  a  widely-extended  district  was  a  model  of  perfect 
organization  and  efficiency. 

At  the  Republican  State  Convention,  in  the  autumn  of  1863,  Mr. 
Clarke  was  chosen  Chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Central  Com- 
mittee, a  position  previously  held  by  the  ablest  of  the  old  Free  State 
leaders.  From  this  time  forward,  his  record  has  been  one  of  cease- 
less activity  and  constantly  enlarging  influence  in  the  political  affairs 
of  his  State.  So  long  as  General  Jas.  H.  Lane  remained  the  advocate 
and  exponent  of  Radical  ideas,  he  heartily  sympathized  with  and 
supported  him.  When  the  Legislature  of  1864  irregularly  elected 
Gov.  Thomas  Carney  United  States  Senator,  to  supplant  General 
Lane,  Mr  Clarke  went  at  once  before  the  people,  promptly  denouncing 


SIDNEY    CLARKE.  3 

the  election  as  fraudulent  and  illegal,  and  the  fruit  of  a  conspiracy. 
The  campaign  fully  established  his  reputation  for  ability  and  politi- 
cal sagacity,  and  the  action  of  the  Legislature  was  overwhelmingly 
repudiated.  On  the  opening  of  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1864, 
Mr.  Clarke  canvassed  the  State  in  favor  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  re-election  ; 
and  by  the  State  Convention  of  his  party,  on  the  8th  of  September, 
1864,  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress. 

Although  bitterly  opposed  by  malcontents,  who  coalesced  with  the 
Democrats  to  secure  his  defeat,  he  was  triumphantly  elected  over 
his  competitor,  General  Albert  L.  Lee,  by  more  than  fifteen- hundred 
majority.  He  was  renominated  for  the  Fortieth  Congress  by  acclama- 
tion, and  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  more  than  eleven  thousand. 
For  the  third  time  renominated,  he  has  again  been  re-elected,  receiv- 
ing the  handsome  indorsement  of  a  majority  of  about  seventeen 
thousand. 

As  a  member  of  Congress,  Mr.  Clarke  has  worked  with  great  indus- 
try for  the  interests  of  his  constituents,  and  enjoys  the  reputation  of 
an  able,  zealous,  and  faithful  representative.  As  a  member  of  the 
House  Committee  of  Indian  Affairs  and  the  Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
mittee, while  representing  a  new  State,  extensive  in  territory,  with 
diversified  local  interests,  and  rapidly  developing  its  vast  resources,  he 
has  secured  the  confidence  of  his  constituents  by  steadfast  devotion 
to  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  His  first 
speech  in  Congress  was  on  behalf  of  unqualified  impartial  suffrage 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  he  has  always  advocated  and  voted 
for  the  legislation  which  represents  the  advanced  ideas  of  the  Repub- 
lican organization.  He  has  participated  in  all  the  leading  conflicts 
which  have  made  the  policy  of  Congress  memorable  during  the  six 
years  last  passed,  while  assiduously  laboring  for  local  measures,  looking 
toward  the  material  development  of  the  State  he  represents.  Mr. 
Clarke  possesses  an  active,  nervous  temperament,  but  is  endowed  with 
remarkable  powers  of  endurance,  physically  as  well  as  mentally.  In 
one  of  his  political  campaigns  in  Kansas,  in  less  than  thirty  days  he 
made  nearly  seventy  speeches,  traveling  in  an  open  carriage  at  the 

207 


4  SIDNEY    CLARKE. 

same  time  above  twelve  hundred  miles,  visiting  the  most  remote  sea 
tions  of  the  State,  and  concluding  his  labors  apparently  unaffected 
by  fatigue. 

Mr.  Clarke  has  devoted  himself  with  great  assiduity  and  sagacity  to 
the  development  of  the  material  interests  of  his  rapidly-growing 
State :  more  especially  to  the  protection  of  its  people  against  the 
growth  of  those  land  and  other  monopolies,  which  in  all  Western  States 
have  had  to  be  struggled  against.  In  doing  this,  however,  he  has 
wisely  and  liberally  aided  all  reasonable  efforts  to  promote  public  and 
private,  improvements. 

208 


W.    B     STOKES 

REPRESENTATIVE    FROM' TENNESSEE. 


ILL!  I  ,-.....     •         ...    ;  ...  h,;ui:   t 

••;.»eini.fir.  1834.     In 

li'M  \yiti, 

' 
I 
""- 

:,turc. 

. 


a  AVliig  ir, 

.  Clay.     In  1S36  he  voteV; 

In  1840,  for  Gecu  IL^ 

lillurd 

r 


2  WILLIAM    B.    STOKES. 

majority  of  fifteen  hundred.  In  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress  he  voted 
generally  with  the  Republicans. 

Gen.  Stokes  was  always  a  bold  opponent  of  rebellion,  in  all  its 
forms  and  disguised  names.  He  exerted  all  his  power  and  influence 
to  dissuade  his  fellow-citizens  from  entering  the  rebellion  in  1861. 

As  soon  as  the  Federal  army  appeared  in  Tennessee  he  hastened 
to  join  it,  and  was  commissioned  by  Gov.  Andrew  Johnson  to  raise 
a  regiment  of  cavalry,  which  he  led  gallantly  through  the  war.  It 
is  justice  to  the  brave  men  in  this  regiment  to  say  that  they  did  in- 
valuable service  to  the  Government  on  many  a  well-fought  field. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Col.  Stokes  was  honorably  discharged,  and 
was  breveted,  by  President  Johnson,  Brigadier-General  for  his  gallant 
services. 

He  was  one  of  the  leading  Unionists  that  sought  to  reorganize  the 
new  State  government. 

In  August,  1865,  Mr.  Stokes  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Thirty- 
ninth  Congress,  but,  with  the  remainder  of  the  Tennessee  delega- 
tion, was  not  admitted  until  July,  1866. 

He  was  constantly  a  bold  and  unyielding  advocate  of  the  Con- 
gressional plan  of  reconstruction.  He  demanded  that  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  rebel  States  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  loyal  peo- 
ple, whether  white  or  black.  He  was  an  early  advocate  of  equal 
rights  for  all  men,  regardless  of  race  or  color. 

When  it  was  proposed  to  modify  the  test  oath,  so  that  it  could  be 
taken  by  David  F.  Patterson,  who  had  been  elected  a  United  States 
Senator  from  Tennessee,  Mr.  Stokes  opposed  the  proposition  with  all 
his  influence  and  eloquence.  "  On  the  night  of  the  22d  of  February 
last,"  said  Mr.  Stokes,  "  I  delivered  a  speech  in  Nashville,  and  there 
and  then  declared,  if  admitted  as  a  member  of  this  House,  I  would 
freeze  to  my  seat  before  I  would  vote  to  repeal  the  test  oath.  [Long 
continued  applause  on  the  floor  and  in  the  galleries.]  I  have  made 
the  same  declaration  in  many  speeches  since  then. 

"  Sir,  I  regard  the  test  oath  passed  by  the  United  States  Congress 
as  the  salvation  of  the  Union  men  of  the  South  as  well  as  of  the 

210 


WILLIAM     B.     STOKES.  3 

North.  I  regard  it  as  sacred  as  the  flaming  sword  which  the  Creator 
placed  in  the  tree  of  life  to  guard  it,  forbidding  any  one  from  partak- 
ing of  the  fruit  thereof  who  was  not  pure  in  heart.  Sir,  this  is  nc 
light  question.  Repeal  the  test  oath  and  you  permit  men  to  come 
into  Congress  and  take  seats  who  have  taken  an  oath  to  the  Confed- 
erate Government,  and  who  have  aided  and  assisted  in  carrying  out 
its  administration  and  laws.  That  is  what  we  are  now  asked  to  do. 
Look  back  to  the  14th  of  August,  1861,  the  memorable  day  of  the 
proclamation  issued  by  Jefferson  Davis,  ordering  every  man  within 
the  lines  of  the  Confederacy  who  still  held  allegiance  to  the  Federal 
Government  to  leave  within  forty-eight  hours.  That  order  compelled 
many  to  seek  for  hiding-places  who  could  not  take  the  oath  of  allegi- 
ance to  the  Confederate  Government.  When  the  rebel  authorities 
said  to  our  noble  Governor  of  Tennessee,  '  We  will  throw  wide  open 
the  prison  doors  and  let  you  out,  if  you  will  swear  allegiance  to  our 
Government,'  what  was  his  reply  ?  '  You  may  sever  my  head  from 
my  body,  but  I  will  never  take  the  oath  to  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment.' " 

In  the  summer  of  186Y,  Mr.  Stokes  was  re-elected  to  Congress  by 
a  majority  of  6,440. 

The  character  of  Mr.  Stokes  is  thus  drawn  by  Hon.  J.  S.  Fowler, 
Senator  from  Tennessee : 

"  Gen.  Stokes  possesses  by  nature  a  constitution  of  the  finest  quali- 
ty, combining  great  activity  and  power  of  endurance.  ISTo  man 
possesses  greater  quickness  of  apprehension,  nor  can  any  one  devote 
himself  more  ardently  to  study.  His  time  is  always  employed.  Dur- 
ing his  canvasses  he  studies  all  his  own  and  his  adversary's  points 
by  day  and  by  night. 

"  He  early  espoused  the  cause  of  loyal  enfranchisement,  and  advo- 
cated with  great  force  and  power  all  the  questions  involved  in  the 
principle  settled  in  Tennessee  as  the  basis  of  reconstruction.  'No 
more  earnest  and  effective  advocate  of  the  principle  that  loyal  men, 
without  distinction  of  race,  should  govern  the  Nation  and  the  States, 
has  been  found.  His  speeches  are  numerous,  and  had  great  effect  on 

211 


4:  WILLIAM    B.    STOKES. 

public  opinion,  not  only  in  Tennessee,  but  throughout  the  country. 
He  has  a  restless  anxiety  for  the  success  of  every  measure  he  espouses 
until  he  has  secured  his  point.  As  a  debater  he  is  open,  bold,  and 
ardent,  and  presses  with  force  every  argument  and  point  in  his  case. 
He  is  a  man  of  great  skill,  and  seldom  fails  to  take  advantage  of  any 
unguarded  point  in  the  defenses  of  his  opponent.  Whoever  makes  a 
canvass  with  him  must  look  well  to  his  facts,  or  he  will  be  overthrown. 
"  Gen.  Stokes  has  been  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune.  From 
humble  circumstances  he  has  made  himself  one  of  the  favored  chil- 
dren of  the  Republic.  He  has  attained  this  position  by  honest  in- 
dustry, devotion  to  his  country,  and  fidelity  to  his  principles." 

212 


HON   liFJSTRY  YAM  AKKNAM 


'I. 


VAX  A  •,  «i  bom  I?  Parceling,  New  York, 

parents  removed  to 

- 

•  but  -rare 
being  po, 

ij  age 
•>;ie. 

%  oney  to  pay  his 

,t  an  academy.     He  after- 
h  Dr.  Ler{  Ci-.-ulsborough.     He  graduated 
for  the  practice  of  medicine  and 
r  he  wag  married  to  Mas  A.  M.  £th- 
orved  in  t]ie  Kew  York  Assembly. 
;ig  out  of  the  Rel>e31ion,  Dr.  Van  .A- 
v  as  a  regimentai^iirgwn.^^e^^sncc-csgivc-] 


Corps.   He  served  on  the  "  Operating 
•••*•,  wwi  w 


2  HENRY   VAN   AERNAM 

on  Pensions,  and  did  much  valuable  service  in  liberalizing   and 
improving  the  Pension  laws. 

His  ability  as  a  legislator,  while  recognized  by  the  country  at  large, 
was  more  apparent  to  the  Representatives  themselves,  by  whom  his 
advice  on  important  measures  was  frequently  sought  and  followed. 
He  invariably  gave  his  voice  and  vote  in  favor  of  extreme  radical 
measures.  In  an  important  speech  delivered  on  the  9th  of  June, 
1 866,  he  advocated  equal  civil  and  political  rights  for  all  men,  taking 
ground  far  in  advance  of  his  party.  "  The  black  man  in  the  war," 
said  he,  "  has  shown  that  he  has  an  intelligence  not  to  be  deceived, 
a  virtue  not  to  be  seduced,  and  a  valor  not  to  be  daunted.  In  what 
quality  of  manliness  does  the  negro  race  fall  below  the  degraded 
whites  of  the  South?  Yet  these  men  are  and  have  been  voters 
always.  Is  there  no  danger  in  intrusting  the  ballot  to  so  many  igno- 
rant blacks  ?  I  answer  frankly,  there  is.  But  the  danger  is  far  greater 
of  intrusting  it  to  the  ignorant  and  disloyal  whites  alone.  Loyal  ignor- 
ance, whether  white  or  black,  is  beyond  comparison  less  dangerous  than 
disloyal  ignorance.  *  *  Worst  and  most  perilous  of  all  is  disloyal 
intelligence.  This,  in  the  persons  of  such  men  as  Calhoun  and  Ehett, 
Breckinridge  and  Jeff.  Davis,  has  brought  upon  us  the  awful  perils 
through  which  we  have  just  passed  and  are  now  passing.  If  the 
negro  is  below  the  whites  of  the  South  in  mental  strength  and  cul- 
ture, is  he  not  infinitely  above  a  large  majority  of  them  in  all  the 
instincts  of  loyalty  and  devotion  to  liberty  ?  He  at  least  has  always 
been  true  and  faithful  to  his  country,  which  has  repaid  him  with 
injustice,  oppression  and  stripes.  He  has  always  obeyed  the  laws  of 
the  land,  paid  taxes  without  a  murmur,  and  yielded  his  body  a  willing 
sacrifice  whenever  perils  dawned  upbn  the  nation ;  and  by  his  sin- 
gularly good  conduct  in  the  trying  situation  of  the  last  five  years  he 
has  earned  this  boon  of  suffrage,  if  it  were  not  his  by  right,  and  has 
given,  ample  evidence  that  he  will  make  a  proper  use  of  it." 

Soon  after  the  inauguration  of  President  Grant  Mr.  Van  Aernam 
was  nominated  and  confirmed  as  Commissioner  of  Pensions,  an  office 
for  which  he  is  well  qualified  by  his  military  and  Congressional  ser-. 
vices,  as  well  as  by  his  general  ability. 

214 


v 


HON.  JOHN  COVODE. 

FROM  PKNNSYIA%NIA 


:    COY  ODE. 


.  .;t  to  Pliil- 
.rcj,  in  wlii- 

He 

. 

. 

Tie 

- 
. 

. 

.  ;ii.     When 

! 

• 
. 

, 

. 

' 


2  JOHN    COVODE. 

company  he  was  President  until  his  duties  in  Congress  compelled 
him  to  resign,  and  this  enterprise,  which  he  organized,  and  which  he 
managed  for  several  years,  is,  like  most  of  his  undertakings,  a  'com- 
plete success. 

Mr.  Covode  was  first  a  candidate  for  office  in  1845,  when  he  was 
the  Whig  nominee  for  the  State  Senate  in  a  district  strongly  Demo- 
cratic. At  his  second  nomination  he  came  within  so  few  votes  of 
being  elected,  that  the  opposing  party  became  alarmed  at  his  grow- 
ing popularity  and  changed  the  district.  He  was  then  taken  up  and 
elected  by  his  party  to  the  Thirty-fourth,  Thirty-fifth,  Thirty-sixth, 
and  Thirty-seventh  Congresses,  during  which  time  he  was  Chairman 
of  the  celebrated  Investigating  Committee,  which  did  so  much  to 
show  up  and  bring  to  light  the  enormous  frauds  and  corrupt  prac- 
tices of  certain  parties  at  that  time  associated  with  the  Government. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  Mr!  Covode  was  one  of  the 
first  to  urge  bold,  decisive  measures.  He  sent  three  sons  into  the  army, 
the  youngest  of  whom  was  only  fifteen  years  old.  They  joined  the 
Fourth  Pennsylvania  Cavalry,  one  of  the  most  gallant  and  meritori- 
ous regiments  in  the  service.  His  eldest  son,  George  Covode,  became 
Colonel  of  the  regiment,  and  was  killed  while  gallantly  leading  his 
regiment  at  St.  Mary's  Church,  near  Richmond.  The  youngest  suf- 
fered the  miseries  and  torments,  ot  Andersonville  for  a  year  and  a 
half,  from  the  eifects  of  which  he  will  never  recover.  The  second 
son  returned  at  -the  expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment. 

In  Congress  Mr.  Covode  was  placed  upon  the  Joint  Committee  on 
the  conduct  of  the  war.  After  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  sent  South 
by  the  President,  to  aid  the  Government  in  working  out  its  Recon- 
struction policy.  His  views,  however,  failing  to  harmonize  with 
those  of  Mr.  Johnson,  he  declined  any  further  connection  with  his 
administration. 

For  the  Thirty-eighth  and  Thirty-ninth  Congresses  Mr.  Covode  was 
not  a  candidate,  and  his  district  was  carried  by  the  Democrats.  At 
the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  Republican  party  he  consented  to  be 
nominated  for  the  Fortieth  Congress,  and  was  elected  by  a  majority 
of  three  hundred  votes. 

216 


HON.  JOHN  F.  TJPJGGS, 

REPRESENTATIVE  PROM  MICHIGAN 


. 

. 

' 

**T*[    u<*-'^u*>   v-    "  parent*    rem»> 

. 
Hi 

>.  be- 
died, 
hing 

' 
in  for  two  years,  he  coni- 

,  r-'iv^d  srr-iT;^   i  •..-=  at  a  vev 

.     When  a  boy,  residing  among  the  H' 

- 
' 

anti-slavery  society,  d  to 


2  JOHN    F.    DRIGGS. 

the  Bedford-Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  This  infant  organ- 
ization was  strongly  opposed. by  the  old  and  leading  members  of  the 
church,  who  considered  it  their  duty  to  stop  all  anti-slavery  agitation. 
Extreme  measures  were  resorted  to  by  the  church  authorities.  To 
show  how  utterly  futile  would  be  their  efforts  to  stifle  the  liberty  of 
speech  and  the  dictates  of  conscience,  Mr.  Driggs  wrote  the  follow- 
ing lines: 

While  life's  blood  circles  through  my  veins, 

And  of  the  man  one  drop  remains, 

My  voice  shall  aid  to  part  the  chains 
That  bind  the  slave. 

While  Southern  tyrants  wield  the  rod 

O'er  half-starved  images  of  God, 

And  Northern  dupes  obey  each  nod 
They  choose  to  give ; 

I  neither  seek  nor  ask  applause 
From  men  engaged  in  such  a  cause; 
I'd  rather  suffer  by  their  laws 

Than  have  their  praise. 
Go  kiss  the  feet  of  tyranny, 
Ye  cowards,  bend  the  trembling  knee, 
Nor  dare  on  bleeding  Liberty 

Your  eyes  to  raise. 

With  fiendish  passions  uncontrolled, 
The  man  who  man  as  slave  would  hold, 
Would  buy  and  sell  his  God  for  gold 

Had  he  the  power. 
So  would  the  man  in  Christian  guise 
Who  feels  no  pangs,  nor  pity  rise, 
Where  fetter'd  slaves,  with  pleading  eyes, 

Trembling  cower. 

So  would  the  man  who  claims  to  be 
The  friend  of  human  liberty, 
Yet  for  the  wrongs  of  slavery 

Will  find  excuse. 

So  Northern  dupes  and  Southern  knaves, 
Who  are  yourselves  the  meanest  slaves, 
No  fairer  title  merit  craves 
Than  your  abuse. 
218 


JOHN    F.    DKIGGS.  3 

Opposition  to  slavery  is  no  new  thing  with  Mr.  Driggs,  but  has 
been  a  deeply  felt  and  openly  avowed  conviction  from  his  early  years. 

Mr.  Driggs,  being  an  ardent  admirer  of  Jefferson  and  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence,  was  a  Democrat,  but  took  no  part  in  politics, 
except  to  vote,  until  1844:,  when  he  actively  participated  in  the  re- 
form movement  by  which  James  Harper  was  elected  mayor  of  New 
York.  Mr.  Driggs  was  appointed  by  the  Common  Council  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Blackwell's  Island  Penitentiary,  and  held  the  office 
two  years,  discharging  its  duties  with  fidelity  and  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  people. 

In  1856  Mr.  Driggs  removed  to  East  Saginaw,  in  the  State' of 
Michigan,  where  he  now  resides.  On  his  removal  to  the  West,  he 
immediately  identified  himself  with  the  Republican  party  just  organ- 
izing. Two  years  after  his  settlement  in  Michigan,  he  was  elected 
President  of  the  Tillage  of  East  Saginaw,  by  a  large  majority  over 
an  old  resident  and  popular  Democratic  lawyer. 

In  1859  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Michigan  Legislature;  re- 
ceiving three  hundred  and  twenty-seven  majority  out  of  five  hundred 
votes  cast  in  his  village,  and  thirty-one  majority  in  the  district,  which 
gave  three  hundred  Democratic  majority  on  the  remainder  of  the 
ticket. 

Upon  the  accession  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency,  Mr.  Driggs 
was  appointed  Register  of  the  United  States  Land  Office  for  the 
Saginaw  District. 

In  1862  Mr.  Driggs  received  the  Republican  nomination  for  Re- 
presentative to  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  from  the  Sixth  District  of 
Michigan.  This  district  is  very  large,  embracing  all  the  Upper  Pen- 
insula, including  the  entire  Lake  Superior  region,  with  its  vast 
copper,  iron,  salt,  and  lumber  interests.  In  this  district,  which  was 
claimed  by  the  Democrats,  and  regarded  by  the  Republicans  as 
doubtful,  Mr.  Driggs  received  a  majority  of  .eight  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  votes.  He  has  since  been  twice  re-elected,  receiving  in  1864  a 
majority  of  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty-six,  and  in  1866  a  majority  of 

lour  thousand,  and  forty-six. 

219 


4  JOHN    P.    DRIGGS. 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  war,  Mr.  Driggs  aided  his 
eldest  son  in  raising  a  company  of  volunteers  for  the  first  regiment  of 
sharpshooters,  which  he  commanded,  and  which  did  gallant  service 
until  the  close  of  the  rebellion. 

During  the  war,  Mr.  Driggs  devoted  all  his  time,  when  not  in 
Congress,  to  the  work  of  raising  men  for  the  army.  When  he  re- 
turned home  from  the  long  session  of  1864,  he  met  Governor  Blair 
in  Detroit,  who  requested  him  to  raise  one  of  the  six  regiments  al- 
lotted to  his  State  under  the  last  call  for  three  hundred  thousand 
men.  Mr.  Driggs  replied  that  he  had  been  absent  from  his  family 
for  eight  months,  and  could  not  undertake  the  work.  "  If  we  do  not 
save  our  country,"  replied  the  Governor,  "  what  will  become  of  our 
families?"  Mr.  Driggs  promptly  responded,  "I  will  try."  He  went 
immediately  to  work,  and  in  sixty  days  the  Twenty-ninth  Eegiment 
of  Michigan  infantry  was  ready  for  the  field. 

While  in  Washington,  Mr.  Driggs  was  untiring  in  his  attentions 
to  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  in  the  hospital.  When  an  Indian 
lieutenant  in  his  son's  company,  and  his  uncle,  a  former,  chief,  died 
of  their  wounds  in  the  hospital,  Mr.  Driggs  had  their  bodies  em- 
balmed and  sent  home  to  their  friends  at  his  own  expense. 

In  Congress,  Mr.  Driggs  has  been  laborious  and  faithful  to  the 
country  at  large  and  to  the  interests  of  his  widely-extended  district. 
He  has  been  veiy  successful  in  securing  grants  of  assistance  to  public 
improvements,  greatly  needed  in  his  new  and  undeveloped  district. 

Since  he  took  his  seat  in  Congress  he  has  never  been  absent  at  the 
commencement  or  close  of  any  session.  He  has  laboriously  and 
faithfully  served  on  the  Committees  of  Public  Lands,  Pensions,  and 
Mines  and  Mining,  rarely  missing  a  meeting  of  his  committees  or  a 
vote  in  the  House. 


k:N    RKAPKR  W.  ChAKKK, 


.•.;.--...  .,         I'..:'.....*';'!   .••••.,- 

\i''.--  i-:lW  wa*  n 
ber  was  of  Scotch - 

;nu.        i! 

h  in  farming.    His  educa- 
•     . 
• 

, 
, 

.•itli  little 

' 

.•>aper  busi-  .  'tli  A.  M 

rraont   Conner/'   a  radical   W! 

i 
i     . 

:  I  was 
.-  fMl  tUir^ 

ktUTO, 


READER    W.    CLARKE.  3 

declined  further  to  be  a  candidate.  In  the  Legislature  he  \vas  a 
leading  member,  and  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Print- 
ing. His  report  in  that  capacity  attracted  much  attention,  and  drew 
down  upon  him  the  wrath  of  the  opposition  press,  and  especially 
that  of  Samuel  Medary,  then  public  printer  of  the  State.  In  1844 
he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Baltimore  Convention,  and  candidate  for 
elector  on  the  Whig  ticket  that  year,  and  aided  in  casting  the  elec- 
toral vote  of  Ohio  for  Henry  Clay.  In  1846  he  was  appointed  Clerk 
of  the  Common  Pleas  and  Supreme  Courts  of  his  county,  which  posi- 
tion he  held  until  1852,  when  the  flew  Constitution  went  into  effect 
and  the  office  became  elective,  and  he/  was  not  a  candidate  for  the 
place. 

In  1858  he  was  the  Republican  candidate  for  Congress,  in  a  Dis- 
trict with  over  fifteen  hundred  opposition  majority.  He  was  beaten 
about  eight  hundred,  carrying  his  own  county  by  seven  majority, 
when  the  Democratic  majority  was  over  five  hundred — Mr.  Howard, 
his  competitor,  residing  in  the  same  county  with  him.  In  1860  he 
was  a  delegate  to  the  Chicago  Convention,  and  was  one  of  the  Ohio 
delegation  most  zealous  for  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  In  1864 
he  was  the  Republican  nominee  for  Congress  for  the  6th  District  of 
Ohio,  and  elected  by  a  large  majority  over  Chilton  A.  White,  the 
then  sitting  member.  He  was  re-elected  in  1866  over  Mr.  Howard 
by  a  decided  majority,  and  in  1868  was  defeated  in  convention  by  a 
whisky  ring,  to  which  he  refused  to  surrender.  At  the  close  of  his 
Congressional  term,  in  1869,  he  was  appointed  Third  Auditor  of 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  which  office  he  now  holds. 

In  Congress  he  was"  always  found  acting  with  the  Radical  Repub- 
licans. His  speeches  in  the  House,  which  are  carefully  prepared  and 
read  from  manuscript,  will  compare  favorably  with  the  best.  A 
practical  economist  all  his  life,  in  Congress  he  uniformly  voted  against 
all  measures  of  extravagance  and  prodigality.  His  private  character, 
and  his  integrity  and  uprightness  are  unquestioned. 


HON.ABNER  C  HARDING. 

RKRPK3K.irrA.nVi:  FhOM  ILLINOIS 


AHNEI1    0. 


n  in  East  Hampton,  Connec- 
l  and  commenced  the 

'  - 
A'arrenCo.,  Tltipois,  whei 

tioeof  hispiofifei'-'i'-j  iM  »-'X*:cnsi\;e^&riniu; 

:!'  the  State  l.Vnstitu- 
nti.m  of  l^iS,  and  s^  'he  Legislature. 

ty-third  Ii> 
•lonel.     His  n«: 
liefly  noted  for  i 

J 
• 


I 


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' 
• 

• 
• 

• 


2  ABNER    C.    HARDING. 

was  now  growing  dark ;  the  unequal  contest  had  been  maintained 
for  more  than  six  hours.  The  Union  forces  had  suffered  considerable 
loss,  and  were  much  fatigued  by  their  constant  fighting  and  rapid 
movements  from  one  part  of  the  line  to  the  other.  Soon  after  dark 
a  rebel  officer  came  in  with  a  flag  of  truce  and  peremptorily  demand- 
ed a  surrender.  To  this  Colonel  Harding  returned  a  prompt  and 
positive  refusal.  The  rebel  emissary  affected  great  amazement  at  this 
response,  but  no  sooner  had  he  rejoined  his  forces  than  they  began  to 
withdraw.  In  a  few  moments  after  their  departure  the  hoarse  cough 
of  gun-boats  was  heard  as  they  rounded  the  bend-of  the  river  two  miles 
below,  followed  by  the  shriek  of  the  shell  which  they  threw  into  the  tim- 
ber back  of  the  fort  The  steamer  "  Wild  Cat "  had  gone  down  the 
river  until  she  had  met  Captain  Fitch,  with  a  fleet  of  gun-boats,  con- 
veying a  large  number  of  transports  with  sixteen  thousand  men,  and 
immense  stores  for  the  army  of  the  Cumberland.  As  soon  as  informed 
of  the  state  of  things,  Captain  Fitch  signalled  the  gun-boats  to  put  on 
all  steam  and  started  to  the  rescue. 

In  this  battle  the  rebels  lost  more  men  in  killed,  wounded,  and  pris- 
oners, than  Colonel  Harding  had  in  his  command.  The  latter  lost  about 
one  hundred  men.  The  importance  of  the  result  of  this  engagement 
is  not  easily  over-estimated.  .Had  Wheeler  succeeded  in  capturing  or 
driving  out  Colonel  Harding,  he  would  have  immediately  occupied 
Fort  Donelson.  From  that  position  he  could  have  checked  the  gun- 
boats, prevented  reinforcements  from  reaching  Eosecrans,  and  perhaps 
compelled  him  to  retire  from  his  advanced  position  at  Murfreesboro. 
Thus  the  work  of  two  grand  armies  for  a  year  would  have  been  lost. 

Colonel  Harding  was  promptly  promoted  Brigadier-General,  and  had 
the  high  compliment  of  being  confirmed 'by  the  Senate  without  ref- 
erence to  a  committee.  He  was  subsequently  stationed  at  Murfreesboro 
for  a  short  period,  from  whence  he  was  transferred  by  the  people  to  the 
House  of  Representatives  at  Washington.  Taking  his  seat  as  a  Rep- 
resentative for  Illinois  in  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  he  served  on 
the  Committees  on  Manufactures  and  the  Militia.  He  was  re-elected 
to  the  Fortieth  Congress  and  served  on  the  Committees  on  Union  Pris- 
oners, Claims,  and  Militia. 

224 


HON.  RALPH  P  BUCKLAND 

REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  OHIO 


RALPH   P.    BUCKLASTD. 


^jpjp  T:J<  -recer.t  i-iril 

; 

>,  a  few  m- 

• 

' 

: 

J 

comij 

•wing 

pring 

" 


2  EALPH    P.    BUCKLAND. 

Newton  at  Canfield,  and  was  admitted  to  the  "bar  in  the  spring  of 
1837.  During  the  time  he  was  at  New  Orleans  his  leisure  moments 
were  occupied  in  prosecuting  his  studies  and  in  learning  the  French 
language.  In  the  summer  of  1837  he  commenced  the  practice  of  his 
profession  at  Fremont,  Ohio,  where  he  now  resides. 

In  January,  1838,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Charlotte  Boughton,  of 
Canfield,  Ohio.  In  1855  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  and  re- 
elected  in  1857,  serving  four  years. 

In  October,  1861,  he  began  to  organize  the  Seventy-second  Regi- 
ment of  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  which  in  three  months  was  fully 
equipped  and  ready  for  the  field.  Soon  after  entering  upon  active 
service,  Colonel  Buckland  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Fourth 
Brigade  of  Sherman's  Division. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  1862,  he  moved  up  the  Tennessee  River,  and 
on  the  17th  encamped  at  Pittsburg  Landing — the  left  of  his  brigade 
resting  at  Shiloh  Church.  On  the  3d  of  April  he  made  a  recon- 
noissance  with  his  brigade  four-  miles  to  the  front,  and  on  the  4th  he 
participated  in  a  skirmish  with  some  of  the  enemy's  advanced  forces. 
On  the  morning  of  the  6th,  Colonel  Buckland's  brigade  WAS  in  line 
full  one  hour  before  the  hard  fighting  began.  He  advanced  his  lines 
about  two  hundred  yards  on  the  left  and  about  four  hundred  yards 
on  the  right,  and  met  the  enemy.  The  fighting  was  desperate  for 
two  hours.  During  this  time  the  colonel  was  riding  along  the  line 
encouraging  -his  men  by  word  and.  example,  the  rebels  being  repeat- 
edly driven  back.  Colonel  Buckland's  brigade  maintained  its 
ground  until  ordered  back  by  General  Sherman.  He  was  heavily 
engaged  during  the  second  day,  and  was  continually  in  the  saddle. 

On  one  occasion,  being  ordered  to  advance  his  brigade  under  a  very 
severe  fire  of  artillery  and  musketry  from  the  enemy,  one  of  his  color- 
bearers  hesitated  to  advance.  Colonel  Buckland  rode  to  the  front, 
seized  the  colors,  and  planted  them  at  the  desired  point.  His  brigade 
instantly  advanced,  with  cheers. 

General  Lew.  Wallace  remarked  on  Tuesday  morning,  while  riding 
over  the  ground  which  the  brigade  had  occupied,  that,  "judging  from 


RALPH    P.    BUCKLAND.  3 

the  dead  bodies,  here  seems  to  have  been  the  best  and  the  hardest 
fighting." 

Colonel  Buckland  continued  in  command  of  the  brigade  during 
the  advance  on  Corinth  until  about  the  middle  of  May,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  General  J.  W.  Denver.  At  Memphis,  Tennessee,  he 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  a  brigade  in  General  Lauman's  divi- 
sion, and  formed  part  of  the  Tallahatchie  Expedition. 

As  soon  as  the  news  reached  General  Grant  that  General  Van 
Dorn  had  taken  Holly  Springs,  General  Buckland  was  sent  with  his 
brigade  to  retake  the  place.  This  having  been  accomplished,  he  was 
sent  to  drive  Forrest  from  his  camp  at  Dresden,  West  Tennessee. 

On  the  20th  of  March  he  joined  General  Sherman's  corps  in  front 
of  Vicksburg,  and  participated  in  the  series  of  battles  which  occurred 
in  the  movement  to  the  rear  of  that  place.  During  the  siege  he  was 
always  active  and  vigilant,  and  at  times  much  exposed.  On  tfre  22d 
of  May  he  led  his  brigade  down  the  grave-yard  road,  marching  on 
foot  to  support  the  assault  on  the  enemy's  works,  exposed  to  a  mur- 
derous fire  of  artillery  and  musketry.  Although  General  Buckland 
was  constantly  exposed  until  all  his  regiments  were  in  position,  and 
his  men  were  shot  down  around  him  in  great  numbers,  he  escaped 
unhurt. 

General  Buckland  remained  with  his  command  in  the  rear  of 
Yicksburg  after  the  surrender  until  the  1st  of  October,  when  his  right 
arm  was  broken  by  the  falling  of  his  horse.  By  this  injury  he  was 
incapacitated  for  active  field  serdce,  but  continued  to  command  his 
brigade,  except  for  a  short  time,  until  on  .the  26th  of  January,  1864, 
he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  District  of  Memphis,  where 
his  administrative  abilities  were  exemplified  and  his  integrity  of 
character  was  clearly  manifested. 

At  the  time  of  the  Forrest  raid  into  the  city,  General  C.  C.  Wash- 
burne  commanded  that  department,  with  his  headquarters  at  Memphis. 
General  Buckland  had  command  of  the  troops  in  the  city.  Most  of 
the  troops  had  been  sent  in  pursuit  of  Forrest  under  command  of 
General  A.  J.  Smith.  Forrest  eluded  Smith  near  Oxford,  Mississippi, 

227 


4  RALPH    P.    BUCKLAND. 

made  a  rapid  march  to  Memphis,  captured  the  cavalry  patrol,  rushed 
over  the  infantry  pickets,  and  was  in  Memphis  before  daylight,  took 
possession  of  General  Washburne's  headquarters,  capturing  his  staff 
officers,  clerks,  and  guards — the  General  escaping  to  the  fort  below 
the  city.  When  General  Buckland  was  awakened  by  the  sentinel  at 
the  door,  the  rebels  were  in  possession  of  a  considerable  part  of  the 
city,  and  on  all  sides  of  General  Buckland's  headquarters.  General 
Buckland  rallied  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  quartered  near 
him,  caused  a  small  alarm-gun  to  be  rapidly  fired,  and  instantly 
attacked  the  rebels  at  General  Washburne's  headquarters,  although 
they  out-numbered  him  four  to  one.  General  Buckland  very  soon 
concentrated  all  his  forces,  which  were  stationed  in  different  parts  of 
the  city,  and  followed  up  his  attack  so  rapidly  and  with  such  spirit 
that  in  less  than  an  hour  he  had  driven  every  rebel  out  of  the  city, 
and  attacked  General  Forrest's  main  force  just  outside ;  and  after  a 
sharp  fight  of  about  one  hour  General  Forrest  was  in  full  retreat, 
having  entirely  failed  in  the  object  of  his  attack  on  Memphis.  But 
for  General  Buckland,  Forrest  would  have  held  the  city  and  captured 
immense  stores  of  Government  property. 

General  Buckland  remained  in  command  of  the  post  at  Memphis 
until  December  24,  1864,  when  he  resigned  his  commission. 

Without  having  sought  or  expected  political  favor,  he  had  been 
nominated  for  Representative  in  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  while  still 
serving  in  the  army.  Without  having  gone  home  to  further  his  in- 
terests, he  had  been  elected  by  the  people  of  the  Ninth  District  of 
Ohio.  In  obedience  to  their  wishes  he  left  the  military  for  the  civil 
service  of  the  country.  During  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress  he  served 
on  the  Committee  on  Banking  and  Currency  and  on  the  Militia.  In 
1866  he  was  re-elected  to  Congress,  in  which  he  is  now  giving  his 
country  and  constituents  the  same  conscientious  faithful  service  which 
marked  his  military  career. 


HON.  WILl  -,1AM  f i.KOBERTSON 

T,   FROM  Nr'.WYORK. 


«T  run,,  taw: 


- 


' 

- 

ve  the  Democr* 
.aajority.     As,( 

ported  and  earri^l  through  a  bill  separating.!! 
-lent  of  Common  Schools  from  that  of  & 

• 

... 


2  WILLIAM    H.    ROBERTSON. 

At  that  time  Know-Nothingism  was  at  its  flood.  Mr.  Robertson 
introduced  in  the  Senate  a  series  of  concurrent  resolutions,  which 
were  adopted  by  the  Legislature  of  1855,  which  demanded  the  repeal 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Act  and  the  enactment  of  a  law  declaring  that 
slavery  shall  not  exist  except  where  it  is  established  jby  the  local  laws 
of  the  State ;  declared  that  New  York  would  never  consent  to  the 
admission  into  the  Union  of  any  State  that  may  be  formed  out  of  the 
Territory  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  unless  its  constitution  shall  pro- 
hibit the  existence  of  slavery  within  its  limits ;  and  that  every  attempt 
to  control,  by  the  dictation  of  secret  political  societies,  or  by  the  im- 
position of  oaths '  or  kindred  obligations,  the  political  action  of  any 
citizen,  is  at  war  with  the  true  theory  of  our  Government,  destructive 
of  personal  independence,  hostile  to  the  rights  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people,  and  detrimental  to  the  public  welfare. 

In  1855,  he  WAS  elected  County- Judge  of  Westchester  County,  on 
the  Republican  ticket,  was  re-elected  in  1859,  and  again  in  1863, 
although  the  County  was  at  each  of  these  elections  largely  Demo- 
cratic. In  1860,  he  was  a  Presidential  Elector,  and  voted  in  the 
Electoral  College  for  Lincoln  and  Hamlin.  He  was  Chairman  of  the 
Senate  Committee  appointed  by  Governor  Morgan,  in  1862,  to  raise 
volunteers  in  the  Seventh  Senate  District  of  New  York,  which  sent 
many  soldiers  to  the  front,  and  especially  the  Sixth  New  York 
Heavy  Artillery.  In  1864,  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Baltimore  Con- 
vention, and  favored  the  nomination  of  Lincoln  and  Johnson. 

In  1866,  he  was  elected  on  the  Republican  ticket  a  Representative 
to  the  Fortieth  Congress,  from  the  Tenth  Congressional  District  of 
New  York,  by  a  majority  exceeding  two  thousand.  He  was  appointed 
a  member  of  the  Committees  on  Commerce  and  Revolutionary 
Claims.  He  favored  the  Impeachment  of  Andrew  Johnson,  and 
voted  uniformly  against  his  vetoes.  Mr.  Robertson  declined  a  re-nom- 
ination for  Representative,  in  order  that  he  might  devote  himself 
exclusively  to  his  profession. 


HON  CALVIN  T  HULBURD, 

HilPRESSNTKCIVE  FP.OW  NEW  YORK 


;  ,BUED. 


. 

- 


•  o  the 
,-.  Hullmrd 


2  CALVIN    T.    HULBURD. 

seriously  impaired  a  strong  constitution.  He  found,  on  repeated 
trials,  that  he  could  not  bear  the  drudgery  and  close  confinement  of  the 
office,  and  thus,  at  the  very  entrance  to  his  chosen  profession,  he  was 
constrained  to  turn  anew  to  a  more  active  business. 

In  1839,  associated  with  an  enterprising  brother,  Mr.  Hulburd 
purchased  a  few  hundred  acres  of  unimproved  land,  embracing  a 
portion  of  the  bed  and  banks  of  the  St.  Regis  river,  in  the  boun- 
daries of  the  town  of  Brasher.  In  the  development  of  the  re- 
sources of  the  town,  and  especially  the  improvement  of  its  water- 
power,  the  brothers  soon  built  up  quite  a  manufacturing  village,  and 
gave  to  it  the  name  of  Brasher  Falls — which  it  still  retains. 

In  1842,  Mr.  Hulburd  was  elected,  on  the  Democratic  ticket,  to  the 
State  Legislature,  where,  in  the  first  month  of  the  session,  he  so  de- 
fined his  own  position  and  that  of  his  county,  in  the  financial  crisis 
of  the  State,  as  ever  afterwards  to  be  heard  with  respect  and  atten- 
tion. In  the  Assembly  of  1843,  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
Committee  on  Canals — also  that  on  Colleges,  Academies,  and  Com- 
mon Schools.  As  Chairman  of  the  latter  Committee,  he  made  a  lie- 
port  setting  forth  the  necessity  of  retaining  in  the  School  system  of 
New  York  the  office  of  County  Superintendent,  and  suggesting  va- 
rious amendments  in  the  laws ;  all  of  which  were  adopted.  In  1844, 
he  was  again  returned  to  the  Assembly ;  and  as  Chairman  of  the  Ed- 
ucational Committee,  he  was  required  once  more  to  examine  and  re- 
view the  whole  educational  system  of  the  State,  expose  its  deficien- 
ces,  and  suggest  remedies.  In  his  labors  and  investigations  pertaining 
to  this  important  commission,  Mr.  Hulburd  proved  himself  greatly 
efficient,  and  as  already  possessed  of  those  liberal  and  enlightened 
views  respecting  the  true  theory  of  Public  Schools  which  are  doubt- 
less destined  to  universal  prevalence  in  the  country.  In  his  Report 
to  the  Assembly,  he  asks :  "Is  it  too  Utopian  a  hope  to  be  indulged, 
that  even  in  our  day  we  shall  be  permitted  to  see  education  free — 
free  in  the  district  school,  free  in  the  academy,  and  free  in  the 
college — every  advantage,  every  facility,  free  to  all?  "Would  not 
this  be  indeed  Democratic  ? " 


CALVIN    T.    HULBURD.  3 

By  order  of  the  Assembly,  Mr.  Hulburd  was  directed  to  visit 
Massachusetts  for  the  p^pose  of  examining  the  workings  of  the  Nor- 
mal schools  established  there.  Returning,  he  made  a  Report  com- 
prising the  result  of  his  observations  and  investigations.  In  this  Re- 
port, he  traced,  in  a  clear  and  succinct  manner,  the  origin,  progress, 
and  results  of  the  establishment  of  teachers'  seminaries  in  Europe, 
and  in'  Massachusetts,  so  far  as  they  had  been  tried  there,  and  con- 
cluded by  recommending  the  establishment  of  such  an  institution  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  the  introduction  of  a  Bill  accordingly. 
This  Bill,  though  encountering  much  opposition,  was  sustained  by  ar- 
guments so  able  and  conclusive  by  Mr.  Hulburd,  and  others,  that  it 
became  a  law  by  a  large  majority. 

After  several  years  of  voluntary  retirement,  in  the  fall  of  1861  Mr. 
Hulburd  was  again  elected  to  the  Assembly,  and  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means, -then  as  now  the  post  of. 
honor,  and  in  the  war  exigences  of  the  times,  a  position  of  peculiar 
responsibility.  Early  in  the  session  he  introduced  important  Reso- 
lutions, looking  toward  the  adoption  and  maintenance  of  a  sound 
financial  system  for  the  country. 

In  the  State  legislature,  Mr.  Hulburd  had  the  reputation  of  being 
a  clear  and  vigorous  thinker  and  an  effective  debater.  In  these  parr 
ticulars  he  was  classed  with  such  men  as  Allen  of  Oswego,  Bosworth 
of  New= York,  Hoffman  of  Herkimer,  Sampson  of  Rochester,  and 
Seymour  of  Utica.  It  was  remarked  of  him  by  Mr.  Hoffman,  that  he 
was  the  ablest  man — Silas  Wright  excepted — ever  sent  to  Albany 
from  St.  Lawrence  County. 

In  1862,  Mr.  Hulburd  was  elected  to  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress 
from  what  is  familiarly  known  as  the  St.  Lawrence  District,  and  one 
of  the  most  Radical  in  the  State.  He  was  made  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Public  Expenditures,  and  a  member  of  the  Committee 
on  Agriculture.  During  the  first  session  he  delivered  his  maiden 
speech  on  the  President's  Emancipation  Proclamation.  Of  this 
speech  it  was  well  said,  that  "  had  an  older  member  with  a  recog- 
nized position  uttered  that  speech,  it  would  have  attracted  more  at- 

233 


4  CALVIN    T.    HULBURD. 

tention  than  it  received  for  the  soundness  and  sagacity  of  its  views. 
It  will,  whenever  and  wherever  read,  be  regarded  as  a  complete, 
scholarly,  and  convincing  argument — remarkable  for  the  positions 
taken,  and  yet  more  remarkable  that  subsequent  events  have  fully 
confirmed  its  correctness." 

But  chiefly  was  Mr.  Hulburd  conspicuous  in  the  Thirty-eighth 
Congress  for  his  examination  and  fearless  exposure,  in  a  Report  to 
the  House,  of  abuses  and  corrupt  practices  existing  in  connection 
with  the  New  York  Custom  House. 

Re-elected  to  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  Mr.  Hulburd  was  con- 
tinued at  the  head  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Expenditures,  and 
placed  also  on  the  Joint  Committee  on  the  Library.  During  this 
session,  he  spoke  on  the  finances,  Niagara  ship  canal  enterprise,  and 
other  subjects.  But  his  efforts  were  mainly  directed  to  a  continu- 
ance of  the  New  York.  Custom-IIouse  investigation.  By  order  of 
the  House,  he  spent  some  time  in  Boston,  examining  the  so-called 
Williams  wine  cases ;  and  his  report  of  these  cases  settled  not  only 
*heir  legal  status,  but  the  moral  status  of  several  officials  implicated. 
The  report  resulting  from  the  New  York  investigation,  while  it  ex- 
posed other  flagrant  abuses,  brought  out  clearly  the  corrupt  purposes 
and  practices  of  the  Collector  of  that  port,  so  that  a  resolution  was 
passed  by  a  more  than  two-thirds  vote,  declaring  that  the  Collector 
ought  to  be  removed.  The  publication  of  this  report  produced  a 
great  sensation,  not  only  in  New  York,  but  in  the  country  generally, 
and  is  considered  as  one  of  the  most  fearless  and  masterly  documents 
that  ever  emanated  from  the  American  Congress. 

Mr.  Hulburd,  having  been  elected  to  the  Fortieth  Congress,  was 
still  continued  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Expenditures. 
He  has  also  served  on  the  Reconstruction  Committee,  occasionally 
speaking  on  subjects  emanating  from  that  committee.  -  He  also  deliv- 
ered a  brief  speech  on  the  question  of  the  Presidential  impeachment. 

Mr.  Hulburd,  though  a  Radical,  has  never  been  regarded  as  an  ex- 
tremist. On  all  subjects,  life  views  have  been  characterized  by  libe- 
rality, comprehensiveness,  and  practical  common  sense. 

234 


HON  SHELBY  M.  CUL.LOM, 

REPRESENTATIVE  PROM  IUJNOIS 


SHELBY    2vi,    OTJLLOM. 


M".  CULLOM  was  bora  in  Wa;;ne   Coiin.lv,  Ken- 
tucky,   N"o\ci!ii»«r  22,  1820.     His  father  Dioved  from  Keu- 
,Uiy     1 1  big  family  ,;  was 

: 

' 


' 
. 

;  ractice,  and  w;t 
•eld  durinL- 

came  on, 
ror  Fill  more.     He 

• 


2  SHELBY    M.    CULLOM. 

Illinois,  for  the  purpose  of  examining  into  the  accounts  and  transac- 
tions of  quartermasters  and  commissary  officers,  and  pass  upon 
claims  allowed  by  them  against  the  Government.  He  was  afterward 
a  candidate  for  the  State  Senate,  and  for  a  seat  in  the  Constitutional 
Convention,  in  a  Democratic  District,  and  was  defeated. 

In  1864,  Mr.  Cullom  was  nominated  by  the  Union  party  of  his 
District  for  Congress ;  and  although  the  District,  at  the  last  previous 
election,  had  been  Democratic  by  about  fifteen  hundred  majority,  yet 
he  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  seventeen  hundred — thus  defeating 
the  Hon.  John  T.  Stewart,  with  whom  he  had  read  law. 

The  first  speech. made  by  Mr.  Cullom  in  Congress,  was  in  answer 
to  Mr.  Harding,  of  Kentucky ;  who  had  made  a  bitter  speech  against 
the  Union  party  of  the  country,  and  among  other  things,  had  said 
that  "  it  was  time  a*  little  posting  was  done."  "We  give  here  an  ex- 
tract or  two  from  Mr.  Cullom's  response : 

"  But,  sir,  as  the  gentleman  proclaimed  to  this  House  and  the 
country  that  it  was  time  a  little  posting  was  done,  I  thought  with 
him ;  and  let  me  tell  the  gentleman  and  his  political  friends  that  the 
.  great  Union  pafty  which  has  stood  by  the  nation's  flag  and  borne  it 
aloft  amid  the  fierce  storm  of  war,  is  always  willing  that  the  books 
should  be  posted ;  an'd  the  great  measures  of  the  party,  for  the  sup- 
port of  which  they  have  received  the  unmeasured  abuse  of  traitors 
and  their  sympathisers,  held  up  to  the  inspection  of  the  patriotic 
millions  of  this  land. 

"  We  are  not  the  men,  sir,  to  shun  such  an  examination.  The  party 
which  has  shaped  the  policy  of  this  nation  since  the  election  to  the 
Presidency  of  the  great  martyr  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  which 
has  never  turned  its  back  upon  the  Government  in  its  contest  with 
treason  and  rebellion,  and  which  has  procured  the  recognition  of  the 
great  principles  of  freedom  throughout  the  land,  has  no  cause  for 
alarm  when  it  is  proposed  to  spread  before  the  world  its  political 
record. 

"Sir,  we  are  willing  that  the  items  of  the  account  shall  be  called 
over,  the  long  columns  added  together,  a  balance-sheet  struck,  so  that 

236 


SHELBY    M.    CULLOM.  3 

the  people  may  see  at  a  glance  how  the  matter  stands.  And  may  I 
call  upon  the  loyal  people  to  hold  to  strict  accountability  the  party 
who  is  the  debtor,  as  appears  from  a  posting  since  the  beginning  of 
the  accursed  rebellion." 

At  the  close  of  this  speech,  after  posting  the  books  and  discussing 
Reconstruction  at  some  length,  Mr.  Cullom  said : 

"  I  do  not  desire  to  deal  harshly  with  these  States  or  any  fallen  en- 
emy. Rather  would  I  turn  from  the  scenes  of  rebellion  and  barbarity 
which  have  been  enacted  by  those  engaged  in  the  attempt  to  over- 
throw the  Republic,  and  look  upon  a  brighter,  better  scene,  as  we 
comme.nce  the  great  work  of  rebuilding  upon  the  scattered  ruins  ot 
those  once  prosperous  States.  I  shall  not  be  guided  in  my  action  as 
a  legislator  by  malice  or  revenge.  But,  sir,  I  cannot  forget  the  thou- 
sands of  brave  and  gallant  men  who  laid  down  their  lives  in  the  ter- 
rible struggle  that  the  nation  might  live.  I  cannot  forget  that  four 
long  years  were  required  to  crush  out  the  causeless,  wicked  rebellion 
against  the  best  Government  in  the  world. 

"  Sir,  I  cannot  forget  that  night  in  April  last  when  that  great  man, 
so  fitly  styled  the  saviour  of  his  country,  was  .murdered  by  a  fiend 
pushed  on  by  the  maddened  exasperation  of  a  dying  rebellion. 

"  Sir,  I  perhaps  feel  as  keenly  the  result  of  that  last  tragic  act  as  any 
man  upon  this  floor.  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  martyr  for  tlie  cause  of 
liberty  and  patriotism,  murdered  by  traitors,  now  sleeps  in  the  bosom 
of  my  own  State  and  city ;  the  patriotic  sons  of  the  Prairie  State  will 
closely  guard  his  honored  remains.  And  as  we  proceed  in  the  per- 
formance of  our  responsible  duties,  let  us  stand  by  that  old  maxim, 
'  Let  justice  be  done  though  the  heavens  shall  fall.'"' 

Mr.  Cullom  was  renominated  by  the  Union  party  of  his  District, 
in  1866?  and  was  elected  by  more  than  double  his  first  majority.  In 
the  doings  and  deliberations  of  the  -Fortieth  Congress,  to  which  he . 
was  thus  elected,  Mr.  Cullom  took  an  active  part. 

On  one  occasion,  in  participating  in  a  discussion  on  a  measure  for 
the  protection  of  American  citizens  abroad,  Mr.  Cullom  said  : 

"  To-day  there  are  about  two  million  people  in  our  country  from 


4  SHELBY    M.    CULLOM. 

the  German  States,  and  about  the  same  number  from  Ireland,  that 
land  of  persecution.  During  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1866, 
there  were  three  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  seven  hundred  and  five 
emigrants  came  to  this  country ;  and  during  the  last  fiscal  year  ending 
June  30,  1867,  there  were  three  hundred  and  ten  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  fourteen.  Sir,  they  are  coming — they  are  coming  with 
brave  hearts  and  stout  hands  ;  they  are  coming  with  souls  panting  for 
liberty ;  they  are  coming  as  it  were  with 'the  eye  of  faith  fixed  and 
gazing  upon  the  tree  of  liberty  planted  in  American  soil,  enriched 
with  patriots'  blood ;  and  as  they  come,  full  of  hope  and  courage,  they 
expect  soon  to  gather  beneath  its  protecting  branches,  and  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  a  free  Government.  Shall  this  nation,  as  in  days  past, 
still  say,  Come  ?  Shall  our  consuls  and  emigrant  agents  abroad  still 
continue  to  point  out  to  those  oppressed  millions  the  advantages  and 
glories  of  this  country,  its  lands,  its  institutions,  its  Government? 
Shall  we  continue  our  naturalization  laws  upon  our  statute-books? 
Shall  we  invite  men — honest  men — to  take  an  oath  to  support  the 
,  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  renounce  all  allegiance  to  the 
sovereign  over  the  land  of  their  nativity  ?  Sir,  the  answer  to  these 
questions  depends  upon  the  action  of  the  Government  in  protecting 
or  failirtg  to  protect  its  people. 

"  Our  duty  is  plain,  sir.  It  is  to  declare  the  position  of  the  American 
Government,  and  see  that  the  Government  stands  by  and  maintains 
that  position,  in  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  naturalized  citizens 
whom  we  have  invited  to  our  shores,  and  who  have  sworn  allegiance 
to  our  country.  • 

"  Mr.  Speaker,"  one  of  the  chief  glories  of  a  nation  is  in  its  disposition 
and  courage  to  protect  the  rights  of  its  people  ;  and  the  nation  that 
will  not  strive  at  least  to  do  that  deserves  to  15e  blotted  from  the  face 
of  the  earth.  I  do  not  fear,  sir,  either  a  lack  of  disposition,  courage, 
or  ability  to  do  justice  to  all  our  citizens  in  the  present  struggle.  All 
that  is  needed  is  that  the  American  nation  shall  demand  the  right, 
and  it  will  be  yielded." 

238 


HONDEMAS  BARN  EG 

REPBESENTATIVE  FHOJf  NEW  YORK 


IAS 


'NOMMEKCE  as  i|p 

Forties  ti 

• 

. 

' 

nphitluv 

• 
orth  n<  hundred  thousand  do] 

•.drifted  in 

•• 


2  DEMAS    BARNES. 

ness  in  the  world,  his  principal  house  being  in  New  York,  with 
branches  in  San  Francisco,  New  Orleans,  and  Montreal. 

While  accumulating  wealth  by  extraordinary  exertions,  he  was  ever 
alive  to  his  want  of  literary  culture,  and  applied  himself  at  all  times 
to  the  collection  of  useful  information.  A  close  observer  of  near  and 
remote  events,  and  a  patron  of  benevolent  institutions,  his  lectures 
before  agricultural  societies,  and  contributions  to  the  press,  called 
him  into  public  notice,  and  obtained  for  him,  from  one  of  the  Uni- 
versities, the  title  of  LL.D. 

Mr.  Barnes  early  became  a  prominent  member  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  in  the  city  of  New  York,  a  director  in  insurance  com- 
panies, and  a  trustee  in  benevolent  institutions. 

Having  invested  largely  in  the  mineral  lodes  of  the  Western 
States,  and  being  president  of  several  mining  companies,  he  felt  it 
his  duty  to  inspect  them  in  person,  and  in  1865  he  undertook  the 
arduous  task.  He  crossed  the  continent  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  a 
wagon,  visiting  the  mines  of  Colorado,  Utah,  Nevada,  and  Califor- 
nia. While  making  this  trip,  he  contributed  to  the  journals  a 
series  of  letters  replete  with  interesting  narratives  of  personal  adven- 
ture and  practical  observations. 

These  letters  were  subsequently  published  by  Yan  Nostrand  as  a 
book,  entitled,  "  From  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific." 

In  politics  Mr.  Barnes  was  first  a  Whig,  and  an  ardent  admirer 
of  Clay  and  Webster.  Opposed  to  oppression  and  inclined  to 
progress,  he  entered  the  Republican  party  at  its  organization,  and 
as  a  private  citizen  resisted  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  Terri- 
tories. 

Deeming  the  Republican  party  to  be  drifting  into  sectionalism,  in 
1860  he  declined  to  go  as  a  delegate  to  the  Chicago  National  Con- 
vention, saying,  "  I  am  a  citizen — not  a  politician." 

Being  convinced  that  the  nomination  of  Lincoln  and  Hamlin  would 
prove  the  initial  point  in  a  future  war,  he  immediately  corned  his 
political  theories  into  commercial  accounts,  and  on  the  16th  of  June, 
1860,  closed  his  business  with  the  Cotton  States.  He  was  the  first 

210 


DEMAS    BAKNES.  3 

merchant  in  America  who  refused  to  do  business  except  for  cash. 
When  the  war  came,  it  found  him  financially  prepared. 

In  1864  he  was  nominated  for  Congress,  but  declined  in  favor  of 
another  representative  of  his  own  political  faith.  In  1866  he  was 
again  nominated,  and  elected  by  the  largest  majority  ever  obtained 
in  his  district. 

In  Congress  he  was  placecf  upou  the  important  Committees  of 
Banking  and  Currency  and  of  Education  and  Labor. 

He  was  from  the  -first  opposed  to  the  inflation  of  the  currency. 
But  this  measure  having  been  forced  upon  the  country,  and  its  results 
becoming  incorporated  into  our  financial  system,  he  saw  disaster  in  a 
too  rapid  contraction,  and  in  an  elaborate  and  exhaustive  speech,  de- 
livered January  11,  1868,  said  : 

'  The  currency  of  a  country  is  like  the  center  of  a  wheel,  the  value 
of  property  resting  upon  it  being  the  circumference.  We  can  follow 
its  expansive  centrifugal  force  without  danger ;  but  when  the  motion 
is  reversed,  and  it  acts  with  contracting  centripetal  power,  it  checks 
the  momentum  of  the  financial  world.  Remove  the  center,  and  the 
circumference  crumbles  with  the  slightest  touch.  The  conditions  of 
society  accommodate  themselves  to  an  expanding  currency  without 
interruption. ,  They  cannot  do  so  when  contraction  takes  place,  for 
the  reason  that  one  side  of  the  account  becomes  fixed  and  immovable. 
As  money  disappears,  values  shrink  with  unequal  rapidity,  but  debts 
remain  at  their  full  face.  A  large,  proportion  of  our  property  is  re- 
presented by  credits  or  debts  which.no  legislation  can  reduce.  We 
have  $21,000,000,000  of  property  represented  by  $700,000,000  of 
circulating  medium ;  or  three  per  cent,  of  money  to  ninety-seven  per 
cent,  of  confidence  and  credit.  We  have  a  national,  state,  municipal, 
and  personal  indebtedness  of  over  $6,200,000,000.  To  contract  our 
currency  $100,000,000,  reduces  the  total  value  of  our  property  one- 
seventh,  or  $3,000,000,000.  To  contract  $300,000,000,  as  is  pro- 
posed, would  extinguish  one-half  the  values  of  our  property,  and 
leave  our  indebtedness  wholly  unaffected,  the  end  of  which  is  bank- 
ruptcy to  the  citizen  and  repudiation  by  the  Government.  We  have 

241 


4  DEMAS    BARNES. 

inflated  the  balloon  ;  we  have  landed  upon  a  barren  island.  Instead 
of  undertaking  to  swim  to  the  mainland  against  tides,  against  winds 
and  currents,  I  would  wait  for  the  friendly  craft  to  insure  our  safe 
deliverance.  We  must  now  wait  for  the  incrtase  of  wealth  and 
population  to  overtake  our  changed  condition,  and  restore  us  to  the 
specie  standard  of  the  world." 

Mr.  Barnes  opposed  the  Impeachment  of  the  President,  in  a  speech 
delivered  in  the  House,  characterizing  it  as  a  party  measure  fraught 
with  mischief  to  the  country,  as  merging  the  Executive  and  Legisla- 
tive Departments  into  one,  inciting  the  spirit  of  retaliation,  involv- 
ing the  stability  of  our  national  bonds,  and  possibly  leading  to  civil 
war.  He  closed  his  argument  with  the  following  words :  "  I  ask, 
gentlemen,  what  is  to  be  the  effect  of  their  hurrying  this  nation  into 
the  jaws  of  a  revolution,  the  end  of  which  no  man  can  foretell  ?  *  * 
I  beseech  you  to  pause  in  these  high-Jianded,  these  useless,  these 
dangerous  measures.  Behold  the  stagnation,  destruction,  sorrow  and 
death,  which  have  already  followed  as  the  result  of  your  legislation. 
Eetaliation  is  an  element  of  human  nature.  Long  pent-up  rage  strikes 
with  mighty  force  when  its  chains  are  broken.  Your  zealous,  enthu- 
siastic, ambitious,  and  dangerous  men,  control  the  action  of  unthink- 
ing good  men.  The  history  of  the  past  admonishes  you — the  uncer- 
tainty of  the  future  warns  you  of  what  may  follow.  You  are  cer- 
tainly sowing  the  seeds  of  anarchy,  destroying  national  credit,  and 
disheartening  our  already  despondent  people.  Be  wise,  be  just,  be 
humane  while  yet  you  can.  The  memories  of  the  past,  the  hopes 
of  the  future,  our  own  liberties,  the  liberties  and  prosperity  of  our 
children  and  of  our  children's  children,  are  involved  in  the  vote  you 
this  day  give.  As  for  me,  if  you  this  day  impeach  the  President  of 
the  United  States  upon  the  evidence  now  before  us,  I  shall  consider 
our  liberties  less  secure,  properties  less  valuable,  our  national  honor 
tarnished,  our  country  disgraced,  our  rights  invaded,  and  the  future 
full  of  woe  and  untold  disaster." 

242 


HON.  JOHN  LYNCH. 

REPRESENTATIVE  FROM  MAINE 


JKiMti  <P|feer  fB  re, 

the< 

'  aft 

:.e| 

' 


2  JOHN    LYNCH. 

Hon.  L.  D.  M.  Sweat,  Democratic  member  of  the  Thirty-eighth  Con- 
gress, by  fifteen  hundred  majority. 

Two  years  after,  he  was  re-elected  over  the  same  competitor  by  a 
majority  of  about  four  thousand.  His  native  city,  where  both  candi- 
dates reside,  gave  Mr.  Lynch  more  majority  than  all  the  votes  she  gave 
his  competitor. 

In  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  Mr.  Lynch  served  on  the  Committee 
of  Banking  and  Currency,  and  on  the  Special  Committee  to  form  a 
Bankrupt  Law.  One  of  the  first  bills  passed  by  the  Thirty-ninth 
Congress,  was  that  introduced  by  liim  to  prevent  the  return  and  reg- 
ister of  those  American  vessels  which  deserted  the  flag  during  the  re- 
bellion. In  advocating  this  measure,  Mr.  Lynch  said : 

"  The  question  arises  whether  it  is  right  to  allow  vessels  to  come 
back  in  this  way  by  an  evasion  of  the  spirit  of  the  laws ;  whether  it 
is  just  to  those  owners  of  vessels  who  have  refused  to  desert  the  flag 
of  their  country  in  her  hour  of  peril  ?  It  is  a  cowardly  argument  to 
offer  in  behalf  of  these  ship-owners,  to  say  the  country  could  not  pro- 
tect them.  On  the  same  principle  the  whole  population  might  leave 
with  their  property  and  place  themselves  under  foreign  protection. 
It  is  for  the  people  to  protect  the  country  in  time  of  war ;  they  are 
part  of  the  country,  and  ought  not  to  desert  her  when  in  danger.  It 
would  certainly  be  dangerous  policy  for  a  nation  to  offer  inducements 
for  its  citizens  to  desert  with  their  property,  and  identify  their  inter- 
ests with  its  enemies  in  time  of  war. 

In  July,  1866,  Mr.  Lynch  obtained  the  passage  of  a  law  exempting 
from  duty  materials  to  be  used  in  building  up  that  portion  of 
Portland  destroyed  by  the  great  fire. 

In  March,  1866,  he  made  a  speech  on  the'  Loan  Bill,  and  against 
the  contraction  of  the  currency.  * 

"  In  regard  to  our  finances,"  said  he  on  this  occasion,  "  we  have  re- 
ceived and  believed  in  the  old  and  long-established  precedents  of  the 
nations  of  Europe.  Because  it  took  Great  1  ritain  many  years  to  re- 
turn to  specie,  payments  after  an  exhausting  war,  the  theory  has  been 

accepted  almost  without  question  that  we  cannot  do  otherwise.     Sir, 

244 


JOHN    LYNCH.  3 

the  experiences  of  the  country  for  the  last  five  years  have  exploded 
many  false  theories  and  falsified  many  sanguine  predictions.  It  was 
positively  asserted  by  our  foreign  foes  that  the  South  could  not  be 
conquered ;  that  it  never  yet  had  been  that  a  free  people  of  the  num- 
bers, resources,  and  territory  of  the  Southern  people  were  defeated 
and  compelled  to  submit  to  the  will  of  a  conqueror ;  that  we  could 
not  raise  armies  sufficient  for  the  work ;  that  we  had  no  money  of  our 
own,  and  could  borrow  none  in  Europe ;  that  the  armies,  even  if  raised, 
would,  upon  a  return  to  civil  life,  so  disorganize  society  that  Govern- 
ment would  be  upheaved  and  civil  order  destroyed. 

"  Well,  sir,  we  have  seen  the  result  of  all  these  predictions ;  we  have 
astonished  the  civilized  world  by  setting  at  naught  the  most  profound 
theories  of  these  modern  sages ;  we  have  overturned  the  accepted  no- 
tions and  ideas  of  past  centuries,  and  in  their  stead  we  have  hewn 
out  our  own  destiny  in  our  own  way,  until  we  stand  on  ground  where 
we  may  safely  bid  defiance  to  the  assaults  of  the  combined  physical 
and  moral  Powers  of  Europe. 

"  In  view  of  all  these  facts,  so  grandly  and  imperishably  carved  in 
our  history,  why  should  we  follow  the  ideas  of  Europe  in  regard  to 
our  financial,  any  more  than  we  did  in  regard  to  our  military,  admin- 
istration ?  Because  the  London  Times  raises  'the  cry,  and  our  own 
croakers  echo  it,  that  "  we  must  have  a  financial  crisis  "  in  passing 
from  a  paper  to  a  specie  circulation,  is  it  necessary  for  us  to  precipi- 
tate one  upon  the  country  in  order  to  verify  the  predictions  of  these 
prophets  of  evil  ? 

"  Every  day's  experience  goes  to  prove  that  our  true  financial  policy 
is  to  go  on  and  provide  for  the  maturing  obligations  of  the  Govern- 
ment, without  contracting  or  disturbing  .the  currency  of  the  country, 
which  is  the  life-blood  of  its  commerce.  Let  it  alone,  and  it  will  flow 
when  it  is  wanted,  and  find  ample  field  for  employment." 

On  the  4th  of  February,  1867,  Mr.  Lynch  introduced  bills  "  to  pro- 
vide against  undue  contraction  of  the  currency,"  and  "  to  provide  for 
a  gradual  resumption  of  specie  payments."  He  introduced  the  same 
bills  in  the  succeeding  session  of  Congress,  and  on  the  7th  of  March, 

*245 


4  JOHN    LYNCH. 

1868,  made  an  able  speech  in  support  of  the  measures.  "  Sir,"  said 
he,  "in  my  view,  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that  the  currency  of  the 
country  shall,  as  soon  as  practicable,  be  placed  upon  a  specie  basis. 
That  is  the  only  sure  foundation  for  our  system  of  paper  money.  * 
*  A  resumption  of  specie  payments  cannot  be  secured  by  any 
mere  arbitrary  enactment  that  it  shall  take  place  immediately  or  on 
any  specified  day  in  the  future ;  not  by  writing  at  once  over  the  door 
of  the  Treasury,  '  Specie  payments  are  resumed,'  nor  by  giving  an 
order  that  such  inscription  shall  be  placed  there  on  the  1st  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1869,  nor  by  attempting  the  financial  impossibility  of  borrow- 
ing $250,000,000  of  coin  in  Europe,  where  our  bonds  are  now  selling 
at  about  thirty  per  cent,  discount,  and  removing  it  to  this  country 
with  the  expectation  of  retaining  it  as  the  permanent  basis  of  our 
paper  money.  If  we  promise  to  resume  to-morrow,  the  public  know 
the  promise  cannot  be  kept.  The  margin  of  forty  per  cent,  existing 
between  gold  and  paper  cannot  be  extinguished  in  a  day.  The 
chasm  between  our  paper  currency  and  gold  cannot  be  leaped ;  it 
must  be  bridged.  If  we  promise  to  resume  a  year  hence,  with  no 
provision  for  appreciating,  in  the  meantime,  our  paper  toward  a  par 
with  gold,  and  no  provision  guarding  against  the  otherwise  irresisti- 
ble effect  of  a  sudden  -panic  after  the  resumption  has  taken  place,  the 
public  will  not  believe  that  we  can  perform  our  promise ;  and  this 
want  of  faith  insures  failure.  If  we  undertake  only  what  the  finan- 
cial world  regards  as  practicable  to  be  accomplished,  we  shall  so  in- 
spire confidence  as  to  insure  success.  To  inspire  confidence  rather 
than  to  create  distrust,  should  now  be  the  first  aim  of  our  financial 
policy." 

Mr.  Lynch  was  among  the  first  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the 
President  should  be  impeached.  He  voted  for  Impeachment  when 
the  measure  was  first  introduced  in  the  House.  When  it  finally 
passed  on  the  24th  of  February,  he  made  an  able  and  effective  speech 
advocating  the  taking  of  the  step,  which  he  styled  "  one  of  the  high- 
est prerogatives  of  the  House." 

246 


HON  GI.F.NN1  W    SCOFIF.LD, 

i-.KI'HKSKHTATWK  FROM  PENNSYLVANIA 


GLa  W.   SCOFIELD. 


oimty, 

.rie   about   ; 
| 

on  Col-: 

•  to  the 

i 

. 
. 

. 

' 


2  GLENNI    W.    8COFIELD. 

young  men  in  the  Institution,  and  never  relinquished  his  early  con- 
victions in  hostility  to  slavery.  In  accordance  with  these  convictions, 
and  while  still  acting  with  the  Democratic  party,  he  advocated  the 
Wilmot  Proviso,  opposed  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  taking  the  anti-slavery  side  of  all  kindred 
questions. 

When  the  Republican  party  was  formed  in  1856,  he  immediately 
severed  his  old  party  connections,  and  in  a  public  address  united 
his  political  fortunes  with  the  new  party  of  freedom  and  progress. 
In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  was  nominated  by  the  Republicans  for 
the  State  Senate ;  and  in  a  district  before  largely  Democratic,  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  twelve  hundred.  He  occupied  this  position 
three  years,  and  ably  sustained  the  reputation  which  he  had  gained 
as  a  debater  in  the  lower  branch  of  the  Legislature.  While  in  the 
Senate  he  introduced  and  advocated  bills  to  exempt  the  homestead 
from  sale  for  debt,  and  to  abrogate  the  laws  excluding  witnesses  from 
testifying  on  account  of  religious  belief.  Neither  of  these  bills  passed ; 
but  Mr.  Scofield's  speeches  in  their  favor,  which  were  reported  and 
printed,  prove  that  they  should  have  passed.  His  bills  were  voted 
down,  but  his  arguments  were  not  answered.  He  was  more  success- 
ful in  his  efforts  to  procure  State  aid  for  the  construction  of  the  Phila- 
delphia and  Erie  Railroad.  This  aid  secured  the  construction  of  a 
line  of  road  which  has  already  worked  wonders  in  the  development 
of  that  large  and  previously  wild  and  neglected  section  of  the  State 
in  which  he  resided.  For  a  short  time  in  1861,  he  was  President 
Judge  of  the  District  composed  of  the  Counties  of  Mercer,  Venango, 
Clarion,  and  Jefferson,  having  been  appointed  by  Governor  Curtin  to 
fill  a  vacancy. 

In  1862,  he  was  elected  to  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  and  re- 
elected  to  the  Thirty-ninth,  Fortieth,  and  Forty-first.  During  his 
term  of  Congressional  service,  he  has  uniformly  acted  with  the  Radi- 
cal Republicans.  As  a  debater,  Mr.  Scofield  lias  been  much  admired 
for  his  analytical,  terse,  and  logical  style.  Without  striving  to  be 
amusing,  he  not  unfrequently  enlivens  his  argument  by  pungent 

248 


GLENNI    W.    SCOFIELD.  3 

satire  and  humorous  illustrations ;  but  the  general  character  of  his 
efforts  is  that  of  clear  statement  and  close  reasoning.  He  seems  to 
aim  only  at  conviction.  The  following  extract  from  a  speech  deliv- 
ered in  reply  to  Mr.  Brooks  of  New  York,  in  January,  1865,  in  the 
House  of  Kepresentatives,  is  a  fair  specimen  of  his  style  of  address 
and  power  of  discussion : 

"  It  has  been  often  said  of  late  that  history  repeats  itself.  Of  course, 
it  cannot  be  literally  true ;  but  the  gentleman  reiterates  it,  and  then 
proceeds  to  search  for  the  prototype  of  the  terrible  drama  now  being 
enacted  on  this  continent,  and  affects  to  find  it  in  the  Eevolution  of 
1776.  Having  settled  this  point  to  his  own  satisfaction,  he  proceeds 
to  assign  to  the  living  actors  their  historic  parts.  The  rebels  take 
the  position  of  the  colonial  revolutionists ;  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  re-enacts  the  part  of  George  III.  and  his  Ministers ; 
while  for  himself  and  the  Opposition  debaters  of  this  House,  he  se- 
lects the  honorable  role  of  Chatham,  Fox,  Burke,  and  other  cham- 
pions of  colonial  rights  in  the  British  Parliament.  Let  us  examine 
this.  It  is  true  that  the  colonists  rebelled  against  the  Government, 
of  Great  Britain,  and  the  slaveholders  rebelled  against  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States ;  but  here  the  likeness  ends.  Between 
the  .circumstances  that  might  provoke  or  justify  rebellion  in  the  two 
cases,  there  is  no  resemblance.  The  Government  from  which  the  col- 
onies separated  was  three  thousand  miles  beyond  the  seas.  They 
could  not  even  communicate  with  it  in  those  days  in  less  than  two  or 
three  months.  In  that  Government  they  had  no  representation,  and 
their  wants  and  wishes  no  authoritative  voice.  Uor  was  it  the  form 
of  government  most  acceptable  to  the  colonists.  They  preferred  a 
republic.  The  rapidly-increasing  population  and  the  geographical 
extent  and  position  of  the  colonies,  demanded  nationality.  Sooner 
or  later  it  must  come.  The  tea  tax  and  other  trifling  grievances  only 
hurried  on  an  event  that  was  sure  to  occur  from  the  influences  of 
geography  and  population  alone.  How  is  it  in  these  respects  with  the 
present  rebellion  ?  The  Government  against  which  the  slaveholders 
rebelled  was  not  a  foreign  one ;  it  was  as  much  theirs  as  ours.  They 

249 


4  GLENNI    W.    SCOFIELD. 

were  fully  represented  in  it.  There  was  scarcely  a  law — indeed  I 
think  there  was  not  a  single  law  upon  the  statute-book,  to  which  they 
had  not  given  their  assent.  It  was  the  Government  they  helped  to 
make,  and  it  was  made  as  they  wanted  it.  They  had  ever  had  their 
share  of  control  and  patronage  in  it,  and  more  than  their  share,  for 
they  boasted  with  much  truth  that  cotton  was  king.  Nor  is  there 
any  geographical  reasons  in  their  favor.  It  is  conceded  even  by  the 
rebels  themselves  that  a  division  of  the  territory  lying  compactly 
between  the  Lakes  and  the  Gulf,  the  Atlantic  and  the  Mississippi,  into 
two  nations  would  be  a  great  misfortune  to  both.  If  it  were  the  Pa- 
cific States  demanding  separation,  bad  as  that  would  be,  there  would 
be  some  sense  in  it ;  but  for  .this  territory,  you  cannot  even  find  a 
dividing  line.  When  you  attempt  to  run  one,  the  rivers  and  moun- 
tains cross  your  purpose.  Both  the  land  and  the  water  oppose  divi- 
sion. There  is  no  disunion  outside  the  wicked  hearts  of  these  dis- 
loyal men.  I  can  see  no  resemblance,  then,  befween  our  patriot 
fathers,  who  toiled  through  a  seven  years'  war  to  establish  this  bene- 
ficent Government,  and  the  traitors  who  drench  the  land  in  blood  in 
an  attempt — I  trust  in  God  a  vain  one — to  destroy  it." 

250 


Eag'by^ 


DA2SIEL   ,T.    MOKRELL. 


.    ,     ,  tliejj.ahvo  place  of  Daniel 

Moirell,  wbo?^)orn  August  8, 182L   .He  received  a 
a,  Juiierited  a  line  constitution,  and 
;  ;       ,,;/;.,  •  ...  of  fanning  labors,  and  a 
age,  he  left  hou.:  >£ed 

:!adelpbia.  i>usi- 

oigbteen  years.     At 

'.    •   :     i" 

i«:»j.- 
tii-d 

..  .       •• 

• 

- 

. 

' 

•' 

be 

. 


2  DANIEL    J.    MORRELL. 

numerous  dwellings  for  the  accommodation  of  its  operatives.  The 
original  mill  building  having  been  burned  in  1857,  it  was  rebuilt  in 
the  same  year  by  the  lessees.  The  new  edifice  is  six  hundred  and 
twelve  feet  in  length,  by  one  hundred  feet  wide,  with  cross  wings 
three  hundred  and  seventy-two  feet  by  seventy-four  in  width.  Then 
in  1863,  an  additional  mill  building  was  erected,  three  hundred  feet 
by  one  hundred,  with  a  connecting  wing  seventy-four  by  twenty  feet. 
In  1865,  a  further  extension  of  the  building  was  made  of  three  hun- 
dred by  one  hundred  feet.  The  production  of  this  immense  estab- 
lishment in  1865  was  about  one  thousand  tons  per  week,  while  the 
extensions  and  improvements  have  increased  its  capacity  equal  to  the 
production  of  from  sixty  to  seventy  thousand  tons  of  finished  rail- 
road iron  per  annum. 

Mr.  Morrell  has  proved  himself  not  only  a  capable  and  successful 
business  man,  but  a  man  of  much  public  spirit  and  benevolence. 
His  advent  at  Johnstown  was  a  source  of  great  advantage  to  that 
place.  He  not  only  raised  the  bankrupt  Cambria  Company  into 
life,  and  carried  forward  its  works  to  completion,  but  he  inspired  on 
every  hand  a  spirit  of  enterprise  for  the  improvement  and  growth  of 
the  town.  A  national  bank  was  established,  of  which  he  became  the 
president,  and  he  was  for  a  number  of  years  an  active  and  influential 
member  in  the  councils  of  the  town. 

In  1866,  Mr.  Morrell  was  elected  as  a  Republican  Representative 
in  the  Fortieth  Congress,  from  the  17th  District  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  was  re-elected  in  October,  1868.  As  might  be  expected,  Mr. 
Morrell  is  an  active  and  efficient  member  of  the  House.  Though  a 
new  member,  he  was  honored  with  the  chairmanship  of  the  impor- 
tant Committee  on  Manufactures.  This  committee,  in  June,  1868, 
presented  to  the  House  a  voluminous  and  able  Report  on  "  Protec- 
tive Policy,"  which  doubtless  was  mainly  prepared  by  Mr.  Morrell, 
as  chairman  of  the  committee.  In  this  Report  it  is  maintained  that 
the  protective  policy  is  sanctioned  by  public  sentiment — that  it  was 
the  policy  of  the  early  statesmen  of  this  country — that  it  is  the  poli-  . 

cy  of  all  industrial  nations — that  such  policy  is  justified  by  exp«-.:i- 

252 


DANIEL    J.    MORRELL.  3 

ence — that  it  is  indispensable  to  the  existence  among  us  of  a  diversi- 
fied industry — that  it  is  requisite  to  secure  a  remunerative  market 
for  the  products  of  agriculture — and,  finally,  that  it  is  a  benefit,  in- 
stead of  a  tax,  to  consumers. 

During  the  first  session,  Mr.  Morrell  introduced  a  finance  bill,  which 
he  supported  in  a  speech  in  which  he  advocated  an  American  system 
of  industry  and  finance  as  the  guaranty  of  national  prosperity. 

He  also  introduced  a  bill  to  provide  for  a  reserve  of  gold  in  the 
Treasury  and  national  banks,  and  for  other  purposes;  another  bill 
authorizing  the  payment  of  bounties  to  persons  who  were  rejected  as 
volunteers,  and  were  immediately  afterward  drafted  and  held  to 
service. 

Mr.  Morrell's  speech  in  support  of  the  Finance  bill  alluded  to  has 
attracted  much  attention,  and  no  little  severe  criticism  from  those 
who  differ  from  its  views  as  to  legislative  policy  on  the  subject. 

On  the  7th  of  July,  1868,  Mr.  Morrell  delivered  another  inter- 
esting speech  on  the  occasion  of  his  reporting  a  bill  for  modifying 
the  warehousing  system.  He  concludes  this  speech  as  follows : 

"  It  will  perhaps  be  charged  that  the  purpose  of  this  bill  is  to  dimin- 
ish imports.  I  admit  the  charge  and  defend  the  purpose.  "We  want 
less  of  the  products  of  foreign  labor,  and  more  constant  employment 
for  our  "own.  We  want  to  bring  the  aggregate  of  our  imports  below 
the  sum  of  our  exports.  We  have  sent  abroad  during  the  eleven 
months  of  the  fiscal  year  up  to  May  31,  $64,486,258  in  gold,  besides 
a  shipment,  probably  of  twice  that  amount,  in  the  interest-bearing 
bonds  of  the  Government,  States,  and  corporations,  in  the  settlement 
of  trade  balances. 

"  I  do  not  know  of  the  exact  shipments  of  gold  for  June,  but  from 
unofficial  reports  judge  it  will  be  as  heavy  as  in  May,  when  it  reached 
the  enormous  amount  of  $10,668,712,  or  an  aggregate  of  over  seventy- 
five  million  dollars  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30.  The  entire 
estimated  annual  production  of  the  precious  metals  in  the  United  States 
and  Territories  is  thus  swept  away,  while  we  are  still  adding  to  our 

foreign  indebtedness  at  the  rate  of  perhaps  $200,000,000  per  annum. 

253 


4  DANIEL    J.    MORRELL. 

"We  are  constantly  talking  of  a  return  to  specie  payments ;  and 
there  is  scarcely  a  member  of  this  House  who  has  not  presented  a 
plan  to  accomplish  that  desired  end,  and  yet  the  price  of  gold  con- 
tinues to  advance,  and  rules  higher  now  than  three  years  ago. 

"  The  necessities  of  the  country  demand  some  practical  legislation 
in  the  interest  of  our  own  people,  and  especially  such  legislation  as 
will  tend  to  check  over  importations,  employ  our  own  labor,  and  pre- 
pare the  way  to  a  safe  return  of  specie  values.  In  the  absence  of  a 
thorough  revision  of  the  revenue  laws,  looking  to  greater  protection, 
and  the  suppression  of  frauds  on  the  Government,  the  passage  of  this 
simple  and  brief  bill  will  do  some  good,  and  I  trust  there  will  be  no 
opposition  to  it." 

We  have  already  alluded  to  the  enterprise  and  efficiency  of  Mr. 
Morrell  as  a  member  of  the  House.  No  man  there  works  harder  in 
the  committees  ;  and  when  he  speaks,  he  is  listened  to  with  attention, 
it  being  well  understood  that  he  is  master  of  the  subjects  on  which  he 
dilates.  He  aifords  a  most  gratifying  illustration  of  the  benefit  which 
the  public  Councils  may  derive  from  the  practical  and  experienced 
views  of  a  man  actively  interested  in  business  affairs. 

Mr.  Morrell  is  one  of  those  men  who  have  made  their  own  way 
in  life  by  the  force  of  a  strong  and  honorable  character.  His  coun- 
tenance affords  a  vivid  insight  into  his  disposition  and  purposes,  and 
shows  him  to  be  a  man  who  thinks  for  himself.  He  is  a  man  whose 
plans  are  always  the  result  of  reflection  and  sound  practical  judg- 
ment ;  and  when  once  adopted,  are  carried  forward  and  executed  witli 
un-werving  resolution.  Probably  in  the  whole  country  there  is  no 
person  with  a  clearer  head  for  a  great  business  enterprise,  and  cer- 
tainly there  are  none  having  more  general  information  regarding 
the  iron  interest,  banking,  and  the  political  affairs  of  the  nation. 
Almost  entirely  self-taught,  he  has  enriched  his  mind  by  the  lessons 
of  observation  and  experience,  which  have  been  afforded  in  his  varied 
career  as  a  merchant,  manufacturer,  banker,  and  statesman. 

254 


.KY. 


MES  M     \    HER    i*  i  •:.-    •-    ;   Peni  ;      •-   .     .     i 

'  - 

" 

•?  one 


2  JAMES    M.    ASHLEY. 

Congress.  He  prepared  and  reported  to  the  House  the  first  measure 
of  Reconstruction  submitted  to  Congress,  which,  though  defeated  at 
the  time  of  its  first  presentation,  finally  received  the  overwhelming 
indorsement  of  his  party,  both  in  and  out  of  Congress.  He  has  pre- 
sented several  propositions  which,  at  the  time  of  their  introduction, 
failed  to  command  the  united  vote  of  his  party  in  Congress,  but  not 
one  of  importance  which  did  not  finally  receive  that  indorsement. 

Mr.  Ashley  has  ever  been  a  most  active  and  reliable  friend  of  the 
soldier.  Every  measure  for  their  benefit  or  relief  has  received  his  ear- 
nest and  active  support.  During  the  war  very  much  of  his  time,  when 
not  at  his  post  in  Congress,  was  spent  in  visiting  them  in  the  hospitals 
and  upon  the  field,  and  their  every  want  or  request  met  with  his 
hearty  response.  The  greater  portion  of  his  salary  was  expended  for 
their  relief,  and  no  demand  upon  his  charity  or  labor  in  their  behalf 
failed  to  meet  a  generous  response  at  his  hands.  Since  the  close  of 
the  war  he  has  been  ever  vigilant  in  looking  after  their  claims  against 
the  Government,  and  his  efforts  have  been  of  much  service  in  secur- 
ing them  against  tedious  delays  and  the  treachery  of  unscrupulous 
agents. 

Mr.  Ashley  was  the  first  to  move  in  the  House  for  the  impeachment 
of  Andrew  Johnson,  and  made  several  speeches  advocating  that 
measure,  and  for  some  time  stood  comparatively  alone. 

On  the  29th  of  May  he  took  the  lead  again  in  introducing  into  the 
House  a  constitutional  amendment,  the  object  of  which  was  to  abolish 
the  office  of  Yice-President,  making  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate 
elective  by  that  body,  limiting  the  tenn  of  the  President  to  four  years, 
and  providing  for  his  election  directly  by  the  people. 

Mr.  Ashley  made  a  speech  advocating  this  amendment,  on  which 
a  contemporary  very  properly  remarks  that  "  the  time  has  been  in 
our  history  when  reputations  for  statesmanship  were  established  by 
speeches  of  less  ability." 

"  The  country,"  said  he  in  that  speech,  "has  been  distracted,  and  its 
peace  imperiled  more  than  once,  because  of  the  existence  of  the  office 
of  Vice-President.  The  nation  would  have  been  spared  the  terrible 


JAMES    M.    ASHLEY.  3 

ordeal  through  which  it  passed  in  the  contest  between  Jefferson  and 
Burr  in  1801  had  there  been  no  vice-presidential  office.  Had  there 
been  no  such  office,  we  would  have  been  spared  the  perfidy  of  a  Tyler, 
the  betrayal  of  a  Fillmore,  and  the  baseness  and  infamy  of  a  Johnson. 
*  ***** 

"  While  each  of  the  candidates  for  President  and  Yice-President 
professes  to  subscribe  to  the  so-called  platform  of  principles  adopted  by 
the  conventions  which  nominate  them,  they  nevertheless  represent,  as 
a  rule,  opposing  factions  in  the  party,  and  often  at  heart  antagonistic 
ideas,  which  are  only  subordinated  for  the  sake  of  party  success. 
This  was  the  case  with  Harrison  and  Tyler,  Taylor  and  Fillmore, 
Lincoln  and  Johnson.  When  each  of  these  Yice-Presidents,  on  the 
death  of  the  President-elect,  came  into  the  presidential  office,  he  at- 
tempted to  build  up  a  party  which  should  secure  his  re-election.  For 
this  purpose  they  did  not  scruple  to  betray  the  great  body  of  men 
who  elected  them  to  the  office  of  Yice-President,  nor  did  they  hesi- 
tate at  the  open  and  shameless  use  of  public  patronage  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  weakest  and  most  dangerous  part  of  our  executive  system 
for  the  personal  safety  of  the  President  is  a  defect  in  the  Constitution 
itself.  I  find  it  in  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  provides  that 
the  Yice-President  shall,  on  the  death  or  inability  of  the  President, 
succeed  to  his  office.  The  presidential  office  is  thus  undefended,  and 
invites  temptation.  The  life  of  but  one  man  must  often  stand  be- 
tween the  success  of  unscrupulous  ambition,  the  designs  of  mercenary 
cliques,  or  the  fear  and  hatred  of  conspirators." 

In  a  recent  address,  Mr.  Ashley  paid  the  following  tribute  to  cer- 
tain prominent  anti-slavery  men  of  the  country  : 

"  To  the  anti-slavery  men  and  women  of  the  United  States  we  owe 
our  political  redemption  as  a  nation.  They  who  endured  social  and 
political  ostracism,  the  hatred  of  slave-masters,  and  the  cowardly  as- 
saults of  Northern  mobs,  in  defense  of  those  who  were  manacled  and 
dumb,  and  could  not  ask  for  help,  were  the  moral  heroes  of  our 
great  anti-slavery  revolution.  To  them,  and  to  many  thousands  whose 
names  will  never  be  written  on  the  pages  of  history,  but  whose  lives 

257 


4  JAMES    M.    ASHLEY. 

were  as  true,  as  unselfish,  and  as  consecrated  as  any,  is  the  nation 
indebted  for  its  regenerated  Constitution,  its  vindication  of  the  rights 
of  human  nature,  and  its  solemn  pledge  for  the  future  impartial 
administration  of  justice.  To  me  these  are  the  men  whose  lives 
are  the  most  beautiful  and  the  most  valuable.  .  .  .  The  world  is 
foil  of  men  whose  pure  and  unselfish  lives  ennoble  and  dignify  the 
human  race.  My  exemplars  are  the  men  who  in  all  ages  have  lived 
such  lives,  whether  religious  reformers  like  Luther  and  Wesley,  or  phil- 
osophers and  statesmen  like  Hampden  and  Sydney,  Locke  and  Bacon, 
Cobden  and  Bright  and  John  Stuart  Mill ;  or  like  our  own  Wash- 
ington and  Lincoln,  Phillips  and  Garrison,  Stevens  and  Sumner, 
Greeley  and  Gerrit  Smith.  To  me  the  only  model  statesman  is  he 
who  secures  liberty  and  impartial  justice  for  all,  and  protects  the  weak 
against  the  strong.  He  is  the  statesman  and  the  benefactor  who  aids 
in  educating  the  ignorant,  and  in  lightening  the  cares  of  the  toil- 
ing millions." 

For  ten  years  Mr.  Ashley  held  a  seat  in  Congress  by  successive  re- 
elections.  In  the  fall  of  1868,  however,  the  official  returns  gave  the 
election  to  the  Forty-first  Congress  to  his  opponent,  but  under  such 
circumstances  as  to  cause  their  accuracy  to  be  questioned.  He  was 
nominated  by  President  Grant  for  Governor  of  the  Territory  of 
Montana,  and  was  confirmed  by  the  Seriate. 

258 


HON.  JOHN  T  WILSON. 

REPRESENTATIVE   FROM  OHIO 


X    T.    V 


*OH"N    TI ;  va§  lx>rn  in  Highland  County, 

Ohio.    5  '  ••    '"    pol'iti-*   ;•• 

in 
when 

. 
• 
CftVn'u 

began  with  eler  l;i'r  :; 

;:  •    ' 
[:: 

•  :-<:<i  s 

;  as  a  farm 

:utcr.  again 

-am.-  j-.rice  as  l>efore, 

the  it.  -'!>•-. 

He  wa  •  -t  year  of  }\is  age;  and  n 

Ohio,  he  commenced  mercantile  life  in  the  County  of  Adonis,  and 
conti-:  -iness  during  the  twenty-fort^  .-. 

.  rnSdfe'star^ftia  nfst  .stu« 

^*x^ 

. 


2  .  JOHN    T.   WILSON. 

Regiment  of  the  Ohio  Volunteers,  organized  at  Portsmouth,  and 
commanded  by  the  gallant  Colonel  Sill.  He  was  appointed  Orderly 
Sergeant  of  one  of  the  companies,  and  distinguished  himself  as  one 
of  the  most  talented  and  faithful  non-commissioned  officers  of  the 
regiment.  But  he  did  not  long  survive  the  hardships  of  a  soldier's 
life,  and  died  by  sickness  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  the  following 
year. 

As  more  men  were  called  for  by  the  country,  Mr.  Wilson  himself 
soon  volunteered  his  services,  and  accepted  a  recruiting  commission 
for  the  Seventieth  Ohio  Regiment.  He  was  promptly  elected  captain 
of  one  of  the  companies  of  this  regiment,  and  after  visiting  his  dying 
son  at  Louisville,  he  joined  his  regiment  at  Paducah.  He  was  in 
Sherman's  Division  in  the  expedition  up  the  Tennessee.  Reaching 
Pittsburg  Landing,  his  regiment  had  its  position  in  front  of  Grant's 
army,  near  Shiloh  meeting-house.  He  was  in  the  sanguinary  battle 
of  Shiloh,  where,  although  his  company  had  never  before  been  under 
fire,  it  distinguished  itself  for  coolness  and  bravery.  Among  the 
officers  honorably  mentioned  in  the  Commanding  Officer's  Report, 
none  were  more  highly  complimented  than  Captain  Wilson.  After 
the  battle,  he  was  violently  attacked  with  disease,  and  his  recovery 
deemed  hopeless.  In  a  state  of  insensibility  he  was  sent  home,  and, 
by  careful  treatment,  he  recovered,  so  as  to  be  able  to  rejoin  his 
regiment.  He  continued  in  the  service  till  forced  by  disability  to 
resign  his  command.  He  was  afterwards  detailed  as  Brigade  Quar- 
termaster, which  post  he  filled  with  ability  and  faithfulness  until  the 
commencement  of  1863,  when  he  received  an  honorable  discharge 
from  the  service. 

In  1863,  Captain  Wilson  was  elected  to  the  Ohio  State  Senate, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1865.  In  1866,  he  was  elected  to  the  Fortieth 
Congress  as  a  Representative  from  the  Eleventh  District  of  Ohio,  and 
was  re-elected  in  1868. 

260 


HON.  LEONARD  MYERS 

HEPPE3ENWIVE  FROM  PENNSYLVANIA 


LEONARD 


'ONARD 

v,  Pennsyl^^^^Bov.  13,  182^    Here  tlie  ilrst  ten 

veaiv  of  lii>  I:  •  '  ^   \'-  -'vnts  re- 

r        "Mng^iiberal   education,  "he 

tin-  'ci 


lion  of  tlie 


.a   a  ?ue;: 
ruark!H.l  a 

• 


2  LEONARD    MYERS. 

"  Sucli  an  one  was  Abraham  Lincoln.  His  life  covering  nearly- 
all  of  the  present  century,  he  stands  in  moral  grandeur  the  foremost 
man  of  his  time. 

"  The  past  four  years  have  been  years  of  sad  realities,  of  almost 
incredible  romance,  too.  The  stride  of  a  century  was  not  expivU'<l 
to  do  so  much.  More  history  has  been  crowded  into  them  than  will 
be  told  in  tenfold  their  time. 

"  Four  years  ago,  American  slavery  falsified  the  Declaration  of 
American  liberty;  to-day  that  slavery  is  dead,  and  waits  but  tlio 
forms  of  burial.  Four  years  ago,  the  art  of  war,  known  to  us  in 
earlier  struggles,  seemed  to  have  been  forgotten  ;  now,  the  most  war- 
like people  of  the  earth,  we  again  relapse  into  the  pursuits  of  ] 
secured  to  us  by  the  ordeal  of  battle. 

"Four  years  ago,  civil  strife,  the  crudest  test  of  a  nation,  long 
predicted,  long  warded  off,  had  not  yet  fairly  burst  upon  our  hitherto 
fortunate  land  ;  but  it  came  in  all  its  fury,  and  with  the  world  as 
spectators,  some  confiding,  but  more  predicting  disaster  and  political 
destruction ;  we  have  passed  through  the  fiery  furnace,  not  unseat  1  KM! 
it  may  be,  yet  purified  and  regenerate.  Republican  institutions  have 
stood  the  trial.  The  sovereignty  of  the  people  —  the  right  of  the 
majority  to  rule,  asserted  in  the  beginning,  has  been  vindicated  tn 
the  end,  even  through  rivers  of  blood.  The  Flag  was  the  shibboleth ; 
but  on  its  starry  folds,  in  storm  And  sunshine,  still  floated  '  the 
Union,'— 'the  People!' 

"  And  all  along  this  terrible  struggle  every  eye  was  bent,  every 
thought  turned  to  him  who  was  at  the  helm — now  in  doubt  or  de- 
spondency, now  in  hope  and  confidence. 

"Remembering  that  a  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath,  the  cavil 
and  the  sneer  fell  harmless  at  his  feet.  With  thanks  for  those  who 
approved,  he  kept  steadily  onward.  True  as  the  needle  to  the  ]">1<>, 
he  only  sought  the  salvation  of  his  country,  never  forgetting  the 
priceless  legacy  committed  to  his  keeping,  never  doubting  the  justice 
of  his  cause  or  its  final  triumph,  never  taking  a  step  backwards. 
And  so  he  won  the  goal  amid  the  hosannas  of  his  countrymen.  * 

263 


LEONARD    MYERS.  3 

"  He  died  in  the  very  fullness  of  a  well-spent  life,  laid  upon  the 
altar  of  his  country;  just  when  a  nation's  thanks  and  a  nation's  love 
seemed  to  encircle  him  ;  -when  the  sneer  had  died  upon  the  lip,  and  a 
world  had  learned  to  know  the  greatness  of  his  heart  and  intellect ; 
when  he  had  demonstrated  that  among  freemen  there  can  be  no  suc- 
cessful appeal  from  the  ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  accomplished  the 
task  which  he  truly  foreshadowed  had  devolved  on  none  other  since 
the  days  of  Washington. 

"  The  world  contains  no  like  record.  A  whole  people  stricken  in 
the  midst  of  the  joy  of  victory  and  peace,  to  the  innermost  depths 
of  grief,  flags  suddenly  draped,  the  song  of  triumph  hushed.  Such 
sorrow  never  before  trembled  along  the  electric  wire. 

"  They  took  him  back  to  his  home  in  the  West,  by  the  route  which, 
but  little  over  four  years  since,  he  traversed  amid  the  shouts  of  a 
people;  they  laid  him  in  the  great  Hall  of  Independence  he  so 
•revered,  while  from  the  belfry  above  the  solemn  dirge  floated  away 
into  the  night ;  and  ever  as  he  was  borne  onward  to  his  resting- 
place,  through  pageants  of  unutterable  woe,  millions  came  quietly 
out  to  gaze  upon  his  bier,  or  catch  a  glimpse  of  that  dear  face ;  and 
women  laid  flowers  upon  his  coffin,  and  strong  men  wept  like 
children. 

"  Time  may  mellow  the  grief,  but  the  gratitude  of  a  nation  will 
endure  for  ever.  Those  who  were  dear  to  him  must  be  cared  for  by 
his  countrymen.  Above  all,  let  his  death  waken  us  to  a  new  life, 
that  henceforth  treason  shall  be  branded — a  crime  without  a  name — 
never  in  another  generation  to  disgrace  the  land  ;  and  when  public 
virtue,  and  unsullied  honor,  and  high  principle  need  a  synonym,  let 
us  remember  Abraham  Lincoln." 

Mr.  Myers  has  taken  an  active  part  in  the  important  measures  of 
the  Congresses  of  which  he  was  a  member.  On  the  24th  of  March, 
1866,  he  delivered  an  able  speech  on  the  "  Acceptance  of  the  Kesults 
of  the  War  the  true  basis  of  Reconstruction,"  wherein  he  gave  utter- 
ance to  views  several  of  which  were  adopted  by  the  Congressional 
Committee  on  Reconstruction,  and  embodied  in  their  Report.  He 


4  LEONARD    MYERS. 

was  prominent  in  securing  the  acceptance  by  the  Government  of 
League  Island  as  a  naval  station,  delivering  an  effective  speech  on 
this  subject  in  the  House,  on  the  7th  of  June,  1866.  On  the  29th 
of  February,  1868,  he  ably  and  eloquently  advocated  the  impeach- 
ment of  the  President,  giving  a  brief  and  startling  review  of  the 
wrongs  which  entitled  Andrew  Johnson  to  a  prominent  position 
among  "  instances  of  men  in  high  places,  who  in  the  madness  and 
egotism  of  their  ambition  forgot  their  better  days,  and  only  remain 
as  a  reproach  on  the  pages  of  "history." 

The  main  reliance  of  the  President's  advocates  against  this  im- 
peachment was  upon  the  alleged  "  construction "  which  it  was 
generally  admitted  the  First  Congress  gave  to  the  Constitution  in 
regard  to  the  power  of  removal  by  the  President,  and  which  it  was 
said  the  passage  of  it  had  reversed.  Mr.  My  ere  traced  the  history  of 
the  legislation  on  this  subject,  and  claimed  that  the  acts  of  1789-1792 
and  1795,  which  declare  how  vacancies  in  the  Departments  shall  be 
filled  when  the  President  shall  remove  the  principal  officers,^  were  in 
reality  not  consttntctions  of  the  Constitution,  but  legislative  grants  of 
power  which  could  be  and  had  been,  repealed,  showing  that  in  that 
First  Congress  "  the  clause  was  only  passed  in  the  House  by  a  close 
vote,  and  in  the  Senate  by  the  casting  vote  of  its  presiding  officer — 
all  those  against  it  protested  such  was  not  the  meaning  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, while  sufficient  of  its  supporters  to  have  defended  it,  placed  their 
vote  upon  the  ground  that  they  desired  to  confer  this  authority  by  law" 

As  a  member  of  the  Patent  Committee,  Mr.  Myers  has  taken  a 
warm  interest  in  the  inventors  of  the  country,  reporting  and  advo- 
cating several  measures  which  won  notice  in  the  scientific  world.  In 
the  Fortieth  Congress  he  was  also  appointed  on  the  Committee  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  from  which  he  reported  and  caused  the  passage  of  a 
Joint  Resolution  appealing  to  Turkey  on  behalf  of  the  gallant  but 
unfortunate  inhabitants  of  Crete.  In  this  Congress  he  delivered  a 
speech  favoring  the  purchase  of  Alaska,  which  possesses  special 
interest. 


s? v 

ixd-c^v*^^ 

/ 


P 

MA  I  .LORY. 

rtnvi  ORF.GCN 


'BUI 


place  , 


r< .  - ;  •. .  •..  ••-  • ; 


2  RUFUS    MALLORY. 

During  the  three  years  of  his  residence  in  Iowa,  Mr.  Mallory  de- 
voted most  of  his  time  to  teaching,  yet  giving  all  his  leisure  hours  to 
the  diligent  prosecution  of  his  law  studies.  Leaving  Iowa  in  the  fall 
of  1858,  he  emigrated  to  Oregon-  -reaching  that  territory  at  New 
Year,  1859.  His  first  residence  here  \\as  Roseburg,  the  capital  of 
Douglas  County,  where  he  resumed  the  business  of  teaching,  which 
he  continued  for  fifteen  months.  During  this  time,  through  the  kind- 
ness of  Hon.  S.  F.  Chadwick,  then  the  County  Judge,  he  had  access  • 
to  an  excellent  law  library — a  privilege  of  which  he  eagerly  availed 
himself  for  the  prosecution  of  legal  study. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1860,  at  the  term  of  the  Circuit  Court  of 
the  State,  held  in  Douglas  County,  Mr.  Mallory  was  admitted  to 
practice  as  an  attorney  and  counsellor-at-law.  In  June  following,  he 
was  elected  District  Attorney  of  the  First  Judicial  District,  in  which 
capacity  he  served  during  two  years.  In  June,  18G2,  he  was  chosen 
to  represent  his  county  in  the  lower  house  of  the  State  legislature, 
which  held  its  session  in  the  following  September.  He  was  there 
made  Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  ;  and  after  the  close  of 
the  session,  he  was  appointed,  by  Gov.  Gibbs,  District  Attorney  of 
the  Third  Judicial  District,  in  place  of  Hon.  J.  G.  AVilson,  appointed 
Judge  of  the  Fifth  District.  In  1864,  he  was  elected  to  the  same  of- 
fice, and  continued  to  fill  it  during  the  term  of  two  years,  when,  in 
1866,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Fortieth  Congress  by  a  majority 
of  about  six  hundred. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Mallory  was  a  "Whig,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for 
Gen.  Scott  for  President,  and  continued  to  adhere  to  the  Whig  party 
BO  long  as  it  had  an  existence.  In  1860,  he  voted  for  Stephen  A. 
Douglas ;  but  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  he  was  among  the  first 
to  advocate  the  rubbing  out  of  all  party  lines,  and  of  uniting  with- 
out regard  to  former  political  opinions  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  the 
rel)ellion — thus  forming  the  great  Union  party  that  swept  the  State 
at  the  June  election  of  1862.  Mr.  Mallory  was  elected  as  a  Union 
man  to  the  legislature  in  that  year,  and  has  continued  to  act  with  the 
Republican  party  to  the  present  time. 

266 


*-Vv 

tflH  w 


-itua- 

.: 

.s  \~ing 

• 


2  MARTIN    WELKER. 

In  the  political  campaign  of  1840  he  took  a  very  active  part  for  one 
BO  young.  The  editorial  department  of  the  paper  published  in  the 
county  in  which  he  resided  received  many  able  contributions  from  his 
pen. 

At  twenty-one  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  rapidly  rose  to 
distinction  as  a  jurist  and  advocate.  After  he  had  been  practicing  ten 
years,  he  was  nominated  and  elected  District  Judge  of  the  Sixth 
District  in  Ohio,  and  served  for  a  term  of  five  years.  At  the  close 
of  his  term  he  was  re-nominated ;  but  on  account  of  much  political 
excitement  at  the  time,  he  being  a  Whig  in  politics  and  the  district 
largely  Democratic,  he  lost  a  re-election,  though  running  far  ahead 
of  his  ticket. 

His  judicial  career  was  marked  by  great  industry,  legal  knowledge 
of  a  high  order,  and  the  strictest  impartiality  in  the  administration 
of  justice.  By  his  urbanity  of  manner,  his  uprightness  of  conduct, 
his  discriminating  judgment,  and  his  stern  inflexible  impartiality,  he 
won  the  respect  of  his  colleagues  on  the  bench,  the  members  of  the 
bar,  and  his  fellow  citizens. 

Possessed  of  decided  executive  ability,  and  with  a  great  know- 
ledge of  men,  and  of  the  means  of  political  advancement,  Judge 
Welker  has  at  all  times  exerted  a  large  influence  in  the  political  or- 
ganization with  which  he  has  acted.  In  a  quiet  and  unobtrusive 
way,  he  has  contributed  much  towards  shaping  the  political  destinies 
of  his  State. 

In  politics  he  has  been  always  a  firm  and  unwavering  friend  of 
freedom. 

In  the  fall  of  1857  he  was  elected  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Ohio, 
at  the  same  time  that  Chief-Justice  Chase  was  elected  Governor.  He 
served  one  term,  and  declined  re-election.  As  President  of  the  Sen- 
ate, ex-ojficio,  he  was  distinguished  as  a  model  presiding  officer ;  his 
great  sell-possession,  urbanity  of  manner,  legal  knowledge,  and  ex- 
ecutive ability, 'admirably  adapting  him  to  a  position  of  that  kind. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion,  he  was  appointed  a  Major  on 
the  Staff  of  General  Cox,  afterwards  Governor  of  Ohio,  and  served 

268 


MARTIN    WELKER.  3 

out  the  term  for  which  the  first  soldiers  were  enlisted.  He  was  then 
appointed  aid-de-camp  to  the  Governor,  and  assigned  to  the  duties  of 
Judge- Advocate-General  of  the  State,  and  served  until  the  expira- 
tion of  the  term  of  Governor  Dennison.  In  this  position,  by  his 
fine  business  qualifications,  he  contributed  valuable  service  in  calling 
out  and  organizing  the  Ohio  troops. 

In  1862,  he  was  appointed  Assistant- Adjutant-General  of  the  State 
of  Ohio,  and  was  the  State  Superintendent  of  the  draft  in  that  year. 
While  on  that  duty  he  was  nominated  for  Congress  by  the  Republi- 
can party  of  the  Fourteenth  Ohio  District,  but  was  defeated  by  a 
majority  of  thirty-six  votes.  In  1864,  he  was  again  nominated,  and 
was  elected  by  a  large  majority  to  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress.  In 
1866,  he  was  re-elected  to  the  Fortieth  Congress,  serving  on  the  Joint 
Committee  on  Retrenchment  and  on  the  Committee  for  the  District 
of  Columbia.  In  October,  1868;  he  was  elected  to  the  Forty-first 
Congress. 

As  a  representative  in  Congress,  Judge  Welker  is  a  working 
member.  When  he  speaks,  he  speaks  briefly,  to  the  point,  and  with 
much  force  and  clearness.  Thoroughly  Radical  in  his  political 
views,  he  has  supported  with  ability  all  the  leading  measures  of  his 
party. 

•When  the  great  subject  of  Reconstruction  was  under  consideration, 
on  the  7th  of  February,  1866,  Judge  Welker  made  a  speech  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  from  which  the  following  extracts  are 
taken  : 

"  No  graver  or  more  responsible  duties  ever  devolved  on  an  Ameri- 
can Congress  than  are  now  upon  us.  This  is  the  time  and  this  the 
occasion  to  settle  for  all  time  in  this  country  the  great  ideas  and 
principles  lying  at  the  foundations  of  our  noble  structure  of  govern- 
ment. Let  these  foundations  now  be  made  strong,  that  in  coming 
time  the  winds  and  storms  of  rebellion  and  revolution  may  beat  in 
vain  against  the  grand  fabric  erected  thereon.  Our  fathers  made 
this  for  a  free  government ;  one  to  which  the  persecuted  and  down- 
trodden of -the  world  might  fly  and  find  secure  asylum  and  equal 


4:  MARTIN    WELKER. 

rights.  In  the  short  period  of  less  than  a  century,  which  is  but  a 
day  in  the  life  of  a  nation,  the  grand  idea  of  our  fathers  was  so  far 
forgotten  and  departed  from  that  we  held  four  millions  of  God's 
creatures  as  the  brutes  of  the  field  to  be  sold  in  the  market,  and  their 
unrequited  toil  used  to  nurture  and  support  a  pnrsc-prond  and 
haughty  oligarchy  of  oppressors  in  the  land. 

"  Let  us  now  make  it  what  our  fathers  intended  it  to  be,  and  secure 
to  all  their  God-given  rights,  secure  equal  and  exact  justice  to  all 
men.  To .  accomplish  this  we  must  not  be  in  a  hurry  with  the 
work.  In  this  fast  age  we  are  apt  to  desire  the  accomplishment 
of  too  much  in  a  given  time.  Let  these  men  so  lately  engaged  in 
the  rebellion  have  time  to  satisfy  us  that  they  are  thoroughly  cured 
of  many  of  the  heresies  they  have  heretofore  entertained.  They  can 
afford  to  wait  after  what  they  have  done  against  the  Government, 
after  .the  great  injury  they  have  inflicted  upon  the  country — the 
deluge  of  blood,  the  ravages  of  war  they  have  caused  all  over  our 
hind,  the  widows  and  orphans  they  have  made,  the  crippled  and 
maimed  soldiers  they  have  scattered  everywhere  among  us.  There 
is  much  for  them  to  do  in  the  way  of  improvements  and  reforms  in 
their  localities  before  they  are  ready  to  assume  all  the  responsibilities 
of  government.  As  a  matter  of  law,  most  of  them  have  forfeited 
their'lives ;  and  if  the  laws  were  enforced  strictly  against  them,  many 
of  them  would  be  hung  for  treason.  They  should  remember  that 
during  these  bloody  four  years  they  have  caused  the  sacrifice  of 
millions  of  precious  lives  and  thousands  of  millions  of  treasure  in 
this  attempt  to  disconnect  themselves  from  the  Government,  and 
establish  for  ever  the  infernal  institution  of  slavery. 

"From  the  first  commencement  of  this  unholy  war  until  their  final 
surrender  to  overpowering  force,  these  rebels  never  for  a  moment 
entertained  any  love  for  our  Government  or  regret  for  what  they 
had  done.  Now  that  they  are  conquered  by  our  amis,  they  have  no 
right  to  complain  upon  the  demand  of  them  of  conditions  and 
guarantees  for  the  future."  *  *  * 

270 


ENRY  D  WAS 


. 


' 


2  HENRY    D.    WASHBURN. 

and  General  Hunter  on  his  return  march  to  Otterville.  Afterwards 
it  participated  with  Pope's  army  in  the  movement  which  resulted  in 
the  surprise  and  capture  of  a  rebel  camp  at  Milford,  December  18, 
1861. 

In  March  following,  the  regiment  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Pea 
Ridge,  a  hotly  contested  fight,  in  which  it  performed  deeds  of  great 
valor,  re-capturing  several  cannon  which  had  been  taken  by  the 
enemy,  and  saving  an  entire  brigade  from  capture.  For  its  gallantry 
the  regiment  received,  on  the  battle-field,  the  high  commendations  of 
the  general  commanding.  Shortly  after  this,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Washburn  was  promoted  to  the  Colonelcy  of  the  Eighteenth  Regi- 
ment, and  was  presented,  by  the  privates  of  his  regiment,  a  beautiful 
sword  and  silver  scabbard.  In  December,  1864,  he  was  breveted  a 
Brigadier-General  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct ;  and  in  July 
following,  was  breveted  Major-GeneraL 

During  the  war  he  was  under  command  of  the  following  officers, 
and  participated  in  the  battles  fought  by  them:  Gen.  Fremont's 
hundred  days  campaign ;  Gen.  Pope's  Black  Water  campaign  in 
Missouri ;  Gen.  Curtis  in  Southwest  Missouri  and  Arkansas, 
and  his  famous  march  from  Pea  Ridge  to  the  Mississippi  River ; 
Gen.  Davidson,  S.  E.  Missouri;  Gen.  Grant's  campaign  in  the 
rear  of  Vicksburg,  and  the  siege  of  the  same ;  Gen.  Banks'  Teche 
River  and  Texas  Coast  Expedition.  He  also  served  under  Gen. 
Butler  at  Deep  Bottom,  Va.,  and  under  Gen.  Sheridan,  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley. 

In  January,  1865,  General  Washburn  was  ordered  to  Savannah, 
and  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  Southern  District  of 
Georgia,  consisting  of  forty-five  counties.  He  remained  in  command 
until  July  26, 1865,  when  the  war  being  closed  he  was  mustered  out 
of  the  service  one  month  afterwards.  The  18th  Regiment,  with  whu-h 
lie  entered  the  service,  and  which  he  subsequently  commanded,  was 
also  mustered  out,  and  arriving  at  Indianapolis,  was  welcomed  home 
by  speeches  from  General  Washburn,  Governor  Morton,  and  others. 
On  the  discharge  of  the  regiment,  General  Washburn  was  the 

272 


HENRY    D.    WASHBURN.  3 

only  survivor  of  its  original  officers.  As  a  military  officer,  General 
Washburn  was  among  the  best  and  most  efficient  that  entered  the 
service  from  Indiana.  Among  the  first  to  enter  the  service  of  his 
country  to  put  down  armed  treason,  he  was  among  the  last  to  leave 
.the  service;  he  remained  in  it  until  the  last  rebel  laid  down  his  gun, 
and  the  flag  of  the  Republic  floated  in  triumph  over  all  the  States  of 
the  Union.  The  soldiers  he  so  honorably  commanded  in  so  many 
battles,  were  among  the  bravest  in  the  service,  and  will  always  che- 
rish his  name  as  a  kind,  considerate,  and  gallant  officer. 

In  1865,  while  in  the  field,  General  Washburn  was  nominated  by 
the  Republicans  of  the  Seventh  District  as  their  candidate  for  ConT 
gress  in  opposition  to  Hon.  D.  W.  Yoorhees.  After  an  exciting  can- 
vass, Mr.  Yoorhees  was  declared  elected.  General  Washburn,  how- 
ever, contested  the  election,  and  having  proven  that  he  was  defeated 
by  fradulent  votes,  he  was  admitted  to  a  seat  in  the  Thirty-ninth  Con- 
gress. He  was  appointed  on  the  Committee  on  Claims,  of  which  he 
made  a  most  valuable  member  during  the  remainder  of  his  term. 

As  a  member  of  this  Committee  he  took  an  active  part  in  opposi- 
tion to  what  was  known  as  the  "  Iron.  Clad  Bill,"  which  had  already 
passed  the  Senate.  This  bill  appropriated  several  millions  of  dollars 
to  the  projectors  and  builders  of  iron-clad  vessels  used  in  the  navy 
during  the  late  war.  When  the  Special  Committee  of  Five  to  exam- 
ine into  the  condition  of  Southern  military  railroads  was  raised,  he 
was  appointed  one  of  its  members,  and  as  such  traversed  many  of 
the  Southern  States  in  search  of  facts  and  evidence.  Before  the  close 
of  the  session  he  prepared  and  introduced  a  most  elaborate  and  thor- 
oughly digested  bill  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  Southern  S.tates  on 
a,  sound  loyal  basis,  giving  the  loyal  people  of  these  States  the 
power  to  form  State  governments,  but  subjecting  all  their  legislation 
to  the  approval  of  Congress.  He  took  a  deep  interest  in  all  legis- 
lation affecting  the  interests  of  soldiers  of  the  late  war. 

In  the  spring  of  1866,  General  Washburn  was  re-nominated  by  the 
Republicans  of  his  District  for  the  Fortieth  Congress,  and  was  elected 

by  a  majority  of  513  votes.     In  this  Congress  he  was  continued 

273 


4  HENRY    D.    WASHBURN. 

on  the  Committee  on  Military  Railroads,  and,  in  addition,  placed  on 
the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  and  the  Committee  on  Pensions 
for  the  Soldiers  of  the  War  of  1812.  Early  in  the  session,  as  a  men> 
ber  of  the  Pension  Committee,  he  introduced  "  a  bill  granting  pen- 
sions from  date  of  discharge,"  also,  "  a  bill  providing  for  paying  pen- 
sions in  coin."  March  19, 1867,  he  introduced  a  resolution  declaring 
that  in  any  future  system  of  funding  our  national  securities,  the  right 
to  tax  for  municipal  and  State  purposes  should  be  directly  granted. 

In  July  of  the  same  year  he  moved  the  appointment  of  a  special 
committee  on  bounties.  The  committee  was  raised,  and  he  was  made 
its  chairman.  Since  then  he  has  made  the  subject  of  bounties  a  spe- 
cialty, and  has  introduced  many  reforms  in  the  payment  of  the  same. 

In  March,  as  Chairman  of  the  Sub-Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
•he  reported  to  said  committee,  and  afterwards  to  the  House,  a  general 
bounty  bill,  granting  to  all  soldiers  eight  and  one-third  dollars  per 
month  for  every  month  served,  deducting  all  bounties  previously 
paid.  As  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Pensions  he  a&sisU-<l  in  iVam- 
ing,  and  was  instrumental  in  securing  the  passage  through  the  House 
of  a  bill  granting  bounties  to  the  soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812. 

Besides  tfyese  legislative  labors,  General  Washburn  has  made  several 
speeches  in  Congress  which  have  given  him  reputation  as  a  skillful 
debater.  He  is  a  popular  orator  on  the  stump,  and  has  participated 
in  the  political  campaign  of  several  States  with  much  acceptance  and 
success.  Of  a  recent  speech  of  his  at  Kcene,  N.  H.,  a  Boston  paper  said: 

"  General  Washburn  held  the  undivided  attention  of  the  cro\\  <lc<l 
assembly  for  nearly  three  hours,  in  a  speech  full  of  interesting  matter, 
sound  reasoning,  and  thrilling  eloquence.  It  was  one  of  the  best 
specimens  of  Western  oratory,  and  universally  pronounced  to  be  the 
most  powerful  speech  which  has  been  made  in  Keene  during  tho 
present  political  campaign.  Gentlemanly  in  his  address  and  language, 
he  wields  a  weapon  keen  as  a  Damascus  blade.  He  was  well  known 
by  the  Boys  in  Blue  as  a  brave  and  efficient  commander  on  the  fu  1.1  <>t% 
battle  during  the  rebellion,  and  he  is  equally  efficient  in  the  forum  as 
in  the  field." 

274 


'^  H1JBBAKD 
ivr  WKST  V;RGINIA 


4  CHESTER    D.    HUBBARD. 

West  Virginia  has  been  acknowledged  as  a  State  by  the  executive 
department  of  the  Government  in  all  its  branches.  Her  name  has 
been  entered  on  the  roll  of  States  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States — no  Justice  on  that  bench,  so  far  as  I  know,  dissenting 
therefrom.  She  has  fulfilled  all  her  constitutional  obligations  as  a 
State  since  her  admission.  She  furnished  her  lull  quota  of  soldiers 
for  the  defense  of  the  Union — all  volunteers,  no  drafted  men  among 
them.  Can  the  gentleman's  district  say  as  much  ?  She  has  paid  her 
share  of  the  direct  tax,  and  stands  as  ready  to-day  to  sustain  a  preserved 
Union  as  she  did  to  defend  it  in  its  time  of  danger  and  peril. 

"  I  know  she  is  not  a  State  by  the  consent  of  rebels  or  rebel  sympa- 
thizers. I  know  her  name  is  not  called  in  Democratic  convention, 
that  it  is  not  enrolled  on  Democratic  banners,  for  she  does  not  muster 
in  that  camp ;  and  I  am  not  surprised  that  the  gentleman's  ire  is  ex- 
cited by  seeing  her  Representatives  on  this  floor.  But  I  am  surprised 
at  the  bitterness  of  invective  witli  which  she  is  assailed,  and  especially 
that  it  should  come  from  a  Repre.seiitutive  from  the  State  of  Ohio 
---a  State  which,  of  all  others,  (I  speak  it  in  no  spirit  of  boasting), 
has  most  reason  to  thank  God  for  the  loyalty  of  West  Virginia.  For 
four  long  years  of  fire  and  death,  West  Virginia  stood  between  the 
citizens  of  Ohio  and  the  destroyer.  We  were  her  wall  of  defense ; 
while  our  fields  were  laid  waste  and  desolated,  theirs  were  rich  with 
fruitful  harvests ;  while  our  homes  were  left  without  a  roof-tree  by 
the  ruthless  hand  of  war,  theirs  were  the  abodes  of  peace  and  plenty ; 
and  yet  a  government  and  recognition  among  the  States  of  the  Union, 
secured  by  such  earnest  devotion,  and  won  by  such  heroic  sacrifices, 
must  be  branded  as  *  illegitimate/  '  conceived  in  sin  and  born  in  in- 
iquity,' and  that  by  a  Representative  of  the  people  who  have  been 
most  benefited  by  that  devotion  and  that  sacrifice.  O  shame,  where 
ia  thy  blush?" 

278 


TljUAM  A  PU,KX 
r.r.  KHCM  VISSOMH: 


In  > 

n 


, 


2  WILLIAM    A.   PILE. 

several  hard-fought  fields.  I*rom  Missouri  he  was  ordered  to  an  im- 
portant command  in  Texas,  and  stationed  at  Brazos,  Santiago,  where 
he  remained  until  the  commencement  of  the  Mobile  campaign,  in 
which  he  distinguished  himself  in  command  of  his  brigade,  at  Fort 
Blakely,  being  among  the  very  first  to  enter  the  Fort,  in  the  charge 
which  resulted  in  its  capture. 

For  his  gallantry  on  that  occasion  he  was  breveted  Major-General. 
He  was  not  allowed  to  retire  to  private  life  on  being  mustered  out  of 
the  army.  His  course  during  the  war  had  made  for  him  warm 
friends  among  the  loyal  men  of  Missouri,  who  pressed  him  into  service 
as  their  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  First  District,  against  John 
Hogan,  a  Democrat. 

In  this  contest  he  made  many  friends  and  admirers  by  his  sterling 
qualities  of  both  head  and  heart,  and  secured  his  election  as  member 
of  the  Fortieth  Congress. 

Mr.  Pile  has  proved  himself  an  able  and  efficient  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  His  career  in  life  "having  placed  him 
in  contact  with  the  various  classes  of  society,  from  which  stand-point 
he  studied  the  people  and  their  wants,  his  speeches  are  more  noted  for 
their  plain  common-sense  view  takqn  of  pending  questions,  than  for 
beauty  of  style  or  finished  eloquence,  although  for  these  qualities  they 
compare  favorably  with  those  of  his  peers  in  the  House. 

They  evince  his  sterling  patriotism  and  his  concern  for  the  welfare 
of  the  country  in  all  its  varied  interests,  urging  "  the  largest  freedom 
for  all  classes  of  people,  not  because  of  claims  of  peculiar  races,  but 
because  freedom  is  the  normal  condition  of  all  men.  Therefore  all 
would  be  benefited  in  proportion  as  any  other  class  is  benefited." 

His  speech  pending  the  question  of  the  impeachment  of  President 
Johnson  may  be  considered  as  a  fair  sample  of  his  forensic  efforts, 
and  from  this  we  present  two  or  three  brief  extracts : 

"  The  President,"  said  Mr.  Pile,  "  has  violated  the  plainest  terms 
of  the  law  solemnly  enacted  by  the  Congress  of  the  people,  accord- 
ing to  and  in  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  Amid 
the  momentous  and  multiform  duties  of  this  body  arising  from  the  con- 


WILLIAM    A.   PILE.  3 

dition  of  the  country  emerging  from  a  great  war,  with  industrial 
pursuits  deranged,  business  depressed,  trade  stagnant,  values  disturbed, 
the  people  overburdened  with  taxes,  capital  timid  and  withdrawn 
from  business,,  and  the  public  mind  feverish  and  unsettled,  every  man 
going  to  his  chamber  at  night  with  an  undefined,  and  therefore  all  the 
more  disturbing,  conviction  that  ere  he  wakes  in  the  morning  some 
new  danger  may  threaten  the  peace  or  life  of  his  nation — amid  all 
this,  the  highest  officer  known  to  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  startles 
the  nation,  from  the  shores  of  the 'Atlantic,  'where  the  sons  of  the 
[Republic  keep  watch  at  the  rising  of  the  sun,'  to  the  golden  shores 
of  the  Pacific,  '  where  they  keep  watch  at  the  going  down  of  the 
same ;'  has  startled  and  moved  the  public  mind  and  heart  to  its  pro- 
foundest  depths  by  a  violation  of  law  at  once  so  flagrant  and  assump- 
tive as  to  leave  him  without  excuse,  and  to  make  his  defenders  on  this 
floor  morally  participants  in  his  crime.  *•  *  *  What  insolent  and 
brazen  effrontery  is  it  for  his  friends  on  this  floor.to  claim  for  him 
innocent  intentions  and  pacific  motives !  It  will  be  difficult  to  find, 
in  the  annals  of  all  the  past,  so  many  acts  of  a  single  tyrant  disclosing 
the  same  wicked  purposes,  and  exhibiting  the  same  criminal  intentions, 
as  are  found- in  this  record  of  infamy  made  by  Mr.  Johnson. 

"  The  violated  supremacy  and  outraged  majesty  of  the  law  demand 
the  impeachment  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  for  high 
crimes  and  misdemeanors.  I  urge  and  press  his  impeachment  in  the 
name  and  for  the  sake  of  the  toiling  millions  of  my  countrymen,  who 
are  wearied  and  exhausted  by  the  long  and  fearful  struggle  of  the 
past,  and  the  unsettled  and  deranged .  condition  of  the  present.  In 
the  interest  of  the  industrial  pursuits  of  the  country,  unsettled  and 
depressed  as"  they  are;  in  the  interest  of  stagnated  trade  and  com- 
merce, and  deranged  and  fluctuating  finance ;  and  for  the  sake  and 
in  the  name  of  the  humanity  and  civilization  of  the  age,  I  ask  thatth 
official  career  of  this  man  shall  be  speedily  and  for  ever  terminated 
in  order  that  the  country  may  have  rest,  quiet,  and  prosperity,  ai 
.  that  the  nation  may  continue  in  its  high  career  of  progress 

ization. 

281 


4  WILLIAM    A.    PILE. 

"  In  the  name  of  the  half-million  of  brave  men  whose  ghastly  corpses 
lie  beneath  the  green  sward  of  the  South,  and  who  died  for  liberty  and 
loyalty,  I  demand  the  impeachment  and  removal  of  this  man,  who, 
in  the  exercise  of  the  great  power  of  his  high  office,  seeks  to  betray 
into  the  hands  of  its  enemies  the  country  for  which  they  fought  and 
died." 

In  March,  1869,  Mr.  Pile  was  nominated  by  President  Grant  for 
United  States  Minister  to  Brazil,  but  failed  to  be  confirmed  by  the 
Senate.  He  was  subsequently  appointed  Governor  of  the  Territory 
of  New  Mexico. 


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